Clinton Township, MI Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- parked continuously over 48 hours
- Effect
- presumed abandoned, may be impounded
- Owner liability
- full towing and storage cost
- Covers
- operable or inoperable vehicles
- Enforcement
- Township Police / certified officers (420.02)
- Ownership presumption
- registered owner presumed responsible (420.11)
Summary
Any vehicle left on a Clinton Township street, road, or parking lot for more than forty-eight straight hours is presumed abandoned. Township officers may impound and remove it, and the registered owner owes every towing and storage charge before the vehicle can be released.
No person shall cause or permit any motor vehicle, whether it is operable or inoperable, to be parked upon any street, highway, road, way or parking lot within the Township of Clinton for a continuous period in excess of forty-eight hours. Any motor vehicle parked continuously in excess of forty-eight hours shall be presumed abandoned and may be impounded and removed from its location by any person authorized to enforce this chapter, and the cost of removal and any storage charges thereafter shall be the obligation of the owner of such vehicle and paid to the Township or such person to whom it may be owed prior to release of the vehicle to such owner.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-25: Local legislation current through May 26, 2026).
Full Breakdown
09 of the Traffic Code applies to any motor vehicle, whether it still runs or not, parked continuously in excess of forty-eight hours on any street, highway, road, way, or parking lot in the Township. 02 includes the Clinton Township Police Department and, at the Macomb Community College site, certified campus public-safety officers, may impound the vehicle and have it towed. The owner is on the hook for the cost of removal and any storage fees that accrue afterward, and the Township or the towing company holding the vehicle can require that bill be paid before it releases the vehicle back to the owner.
11 lets the Township presume the registered owner was the one who left the vehicle in place, so the plate on the car is what the Township uses to identify who owes the tow and storage bill and who is liable for the underlying violation. 09 itself, only the forty-eight-hour threshold; a vehicle does not need to be wrecked, unregistered, or missing parts to qualify, since sitting in one place for two full days is enough to trigger impoundment.
Violations & Fines
A vehicle impounded under Section 420.09 cannot be released until the owner pays every towing and storage charge billed by the Township or its contracted tow company. Beyond the towing bill, leaving a vehicle parked in violation of Chapter 420 is a civil infraction under Section 420.99, carrying a civil fine set by Section 8395 of Public Act 511 of 1978.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can a car sit on a Clinton Township street before it's towed?
Who pays to get an impounded car back?
Does the vehicle have to be broken down to count as abandoned?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clinton Township
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Abandoned Vehicles in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Macomb County handle abandoned vehicles.