A motor vehicle that is driven on a highway or vehicular way or area, and that has been determined to be defective in equipment so as to be unsafe for driving, or on which the vehicle identification number has been removed, defaced, or otherwise altered, is an unlawful vehicle and may be impounded by a peace officer or an employee of the Department of Public Safety officially designated for that purpose. The owner or person in lawful possession of a vehicle that is driven on a highway or vehicular way or area and that is so defective in equipment as to be unsafe for driving shall pay the necessary costs of impounding and storing the vehicle. The impounding of a vehicle is in addition to any other penalty. Nothing in this section prevents the driving or moving of a defective vehicle in the manner directed by the peace officer or employee to a place for
(1) the correction of a defect in the equipment;
(2) dismantling or wrecking; or
(3) storage without repair.