The Business of Towing

A primary incident can be an abandoned vehicle, an accident, or a vehicle left in or out of the roadway for any number of reasons.

Studies have shown the longer a primary incident or accident lasts in or near passing traffic the higher the odds of a secondary accident are of occurring.

If your job doesn’t require you to work in 70 + mile per hour traffic you should be thankful. Those who do work in these conditions know the difference a few minutes can make when removing abandoned vehicles.

When law enforcement makes the call to remove an abandoned vehicle they are not doing it as a punitive measure it’s a public safety issue aimed at ensuring secondary accidents do not occur.

Most motorists could care less about issues such as this until it affects them.  If it were your car being removed or if you were waiting in traffic you might show an interest.

What if the towing company receiving the call to tow the vehicle had to travel a long distance to get there and your loved ones were patiently waiting in that line of traffic?  That might pique your interest.

Why would law enforcement call a tow company that must travel a long distance to get there?

In some rural areas the closest available towing company must come from quite a distance, but most cities have rules in place that ensure there’s always a tow truck available when needed.  They access a list of local, available, capable towing companies and use a rotation to determine which wrecker company should be dispatched.  This rotation allows all towing companies involved to plan ahead and invest in the manpower and equipment necessary to be available whenever the need arises.  On the other hand if you go outside city limits and are in the jurisdiction of the State Highway Patrol of some states they have no such rotation.   Relying only on personal knowledge of and relationships with towers in and around the area, some states leave the decision of what towing company to call up to the individual officer on the scene.  Although this may have worked in the past and is ok in some remote rural areas, this outdated and flawed method leaves a lot to be desired.  If, for example, the officer has a relationship with a tower located 20 miles away and chooses to call him this can create longer lines and increase the time spent on scene.

15 minutes waiting to see the dentist can be excruciating but 15 minutes longer waiting for a tow truck, in some instances, can be a matter of life and death.