What To Do At The Scene Of A Car Accident

At the scene of your car accident, you should try to remain calm because, despite what you may think under that kind of duress, you are fully in control.

In most municipalities, bylaws regulate how close tow truck drivers can get to an car accident. It's usually enforced that they must stay between 60 to 200 meters away, unless there are less towers than vehicles involved in the accident.

Bylaws will prohibit tow truck drivers, the police and other accident response personnel from soliciting or making referrals to any auto collision repair shops.

Licensed towers will have municipal licensing tags and a municipally approved charge rate card that must be displayed in their trucks. You should ask them for an itemized quote for all services before agreeing to have your vehicle towed to another location. This will protect you from the hidden charges and the "oh, that's going to be extra" surprises at the end of the job.

Do not sign any paperwork handed to you by a tower at the scene of an accident. If you do, you may be unknowingly agreeing to use the services of "an affiliated repair shop" to start repairs on your vehicle. The only exception to this is if you are required to complete a municipal authorization form entitled "Permission To Tow" (click here for an example) which is to allow the tower to take your vehicle to a predetermined location (such as a collision repair shop). Be sure that the tower signs the same agreement (be sure to watch for a tower switching forms) and that you get a copy with both of your signatures on it.

In the event you feel the original agreement was not fulfilled by the tower, you should immediately proceed to the closest local municipal government office and present a copy of the originally signed form to a municipal bylaw enforcement officer, with an explanation of the discrepancy, so they can review it and take the appropriate action.

Do not accept pressure tactics like "well I'm not waiting around for all this" or "if you don't let me tow you you're going to get impounded or fined". Remember, you are in complete control and you should determine the tempo of the discussion.

However, if you are in doubt, or feeling pressured to make a decision, negotiate a predetermined rate and have your vehicle towed to the nearest government collision reporting centre, police station or to your home until you decide what you want to do next.

At the end of the day, you have limitless options. If you don't feel good about doing business with the person in front of you, tell them to leave and simply call another tower... you may not need to as several will probably be waiting "just in case".

Only the owner of the vehicle, has the legal authority to decide who will tow their vehicle and where it will be repaired, unless you are unable or unwilling to make a decision. This is the law no matter where you are.

Click here to understand what you need at the scene.

Click here to understand what you should expect.