Kirkland, WA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

KMC 12.40.010 defines three related categories. An abandoned vehicle is any vehicle or hulk left in the right-of-way of a public street, highway, alley, or public way for 24 hours. A hulk or junk vehicle is one that is apparently inoperable and extensively damaged or missing vital parts. An unauthorized vehicle, the broader category actually subject to impoundment, also includes a vehicle constituting an immediate traffic hazard, removable immediately under RCW 46.55.113, one tagged as abandoned and left 24 hours after the tag under RCW 46.55.085, or one impoundable under Chapter 12.44 or 12.48, such as a bus-stop obstruction.

Removal runs through KMC 12.40.020: a registered tow operator licensed under RCW Chapter 46.55 impounds the vehicle at the direction of a police officer, parking enforcement officer, or another official the chief of police authorizes, at the registered and legal owner's expense. Within 24 hours of impoundment the police department must mail notice to the last known registered and legal owners, giving the impounding tow firm's name, address and phone number and the impound location and time, plus a form for requesting a hearing before the Kirkland municipal court to contest the impoundment.

A vehicle impounded for a driver's-license violation under RCW 46.20.435 follows the same 12.40.020 procedure but the notice must, if possible, be served on the driver immediately, per KMC 12.40.030. The chapter doesn't limit a private landowner's own right to have a vehicle towed off their property under common law or state statutes such as RCW 46.55.230 or 46.55.080; KMC 12.40.040 requires the police department to supply information from Chapter 46.55 RCW on request. Junk vehicles abandoned on private property, as opposed to the right-of-way, are separately handled under KMC Chapter 11.76.