Actually, yes.
Some years ago, I pulled these people out for free. I was trying to go somewhere, and they were blocking the road. The water is anywhere from 3" to 1.5' deep. Who drives into that with a car? Usually, they complained about how long I was taking, how cold it was outside, how inconvenient this was, etc. One particular woman started calling me names, and told me I was a bad person, because of the type of vehicle I drove. Since I was in my dress clothes, laying on my back in cold, dirty water, using my vehicle to move theirs, for free, I got tired of this. I told that particular woman she could wait, and drove over the curb around her. There is a difference between these people and me. She was right about that.
Several times, residents have voted against fixing this issue, on environmental grounds. Signs have been placed, to remind drivers not to drive into water on the road. They persist. For any drivers that choose to drive into the water, this is totally their own fault. They can wait for hours for a company to tow them, or, they can choose to pay a stupidity tax, and get pulled out.
It is actually illegal to block the road, so they can wait for a tow truck, and the city will give them a ticket. If they wait to get towed, unless they have AAA, it is at least $60 to have the truck hook up, plus a 10-mile minimum. The ticket is at least $25. Of course, it was their choice to drive into the water. It was their choice to engage me to pull their vehicle out, and to pay me--a private individual--to do so. I did not charge more for nasty things they said to me, or for drivers that were in deeper water. The fee was up front, so I was not gouging them. Driving the 1-ton does cost a lot. Of course, the tow truck is usually at least $90, to do the same thing I did. Most of these people do not have AAA. Heck, some do not have a license or collision insurance.
Usually, the tow truck drivers get these people when there is nothing else, because most of the people waste time complaining and refusing to pay. Ultimately, the people who do not have their vehicles removed by the end of the day get towed to an impound yard. The costs accumulate. As my children have learned, cascading failures.
Sure, I could ignore these people, and just drive around them (on the sidewalk), leaving them to their own devices and the financial responsibilities their decisions incurred. Instead, this took more than 6 hours of my day. I'm sure the vehicles that weren't held up by these people appreciated the efforts of those of us clearing the road.
Yesterday, it was 37 degrees outside. I got soaked and filthy, because I was helping these people. Today, I have a cold. If I do this again, my rates are going up. As I stated, the 1-ton is not cheap to operate; at more than $60,000 to purchase, if taxes, fuel, and maintenance are factored in, it costs about $0.60 per mile, or $36 per hour, IF I get at least 300,000 miles out of it. So, my cost was $216, plus the cost to get there and back home. My costs to operate the truck yesterday were $288.
When water is an issue for a week or so, the people who do landscaping, recycling, and plowing will handle this, but for a single day, it isn't worth it, for them. There were 8 or 9 other trucks working alongside me. My rate was as low as any other rate I heard.
If I choose to do something for free, that is up to me. They shouldn't expect that. I will not work for free, and be berated for doing so, by the very people I'm helping.
The city actually requests help from individuals, and the police do not ticket drivers who have paid to be towed.
