Towing a car is never fun, but towing services can be used for a variety of situations. There are times when the car cannot be driven because it has been disabled. Cars that are involved in accidents will also need to be towed away because the vehicle has been damaged or the driver is unavailable.
However, before you start to worry about the transportation of your car, you need to consider your personal safety. If you are stuck on a busy road, you need to turn on your emergency blinkers before you exit the car. You should then step away from the car and to the side of the road before you call for help. If you can, you should place flares or warning markers at least 100 yards behind your car to warn oncoming drivers.
Tow Truck Safety
Tow truck operators will have to deal with many different conditions. The cars, trucks, and SUVs of today are more complicated than in the past and the tow truck operator needs to be aware of the differences. Fortunately, the AAA has created a manual of 350 pages for tow truck drivers which helps them manage the many situations they find themselves in as well as the vehicles they could work with.
The Towing Process
Hooking up the car and pulling it is no longer a safe towing process. When the tow truck arrives on the scene, they will need to follow the instructions in the manual regarding towing your vehicle. This is why you need to always contact a professional towing company.
The situation has changed because of the complexities in modern cars. The brakes, lights, and steering wheel could be affected when the engine is off. There are many stories of people being injured or killed while towing a vehicle. One instance occurred in Michigan where a helpful neighbor was killed by a flying chain which had broken loose from a snowbound vehicle.
Professional tow trucks will have blinkers, flashing lights, and other ways to warn oncoming vehicles of their presence. They can also use these features to alert drivers while they move along the road at a reduced speed.
Avoiding The Mechanical Dangers
There are some vehicles which have manuals which state that none of the wheels should be on the ground when the vehicle is being towed. This is due to the fact that the all-wheel-drive system can be seriously damaged when this happens. It is possible for the transaction or transmission to be completely ruined when the wheels are pulled behind the truck.
If you have one of these vehicles, they will need to be flat-bedded. The problem is that not all tow truck companies will have the capacity to offer this. This is something that you will have to check in advance and not when you need to be towed.
If you have a front or rear-wheel drive vehicle, the non-drive wheels may have to be the ones that are on the ground. A rear-wheel-drive vehicle will need to be towed backward.
Let Leahy’s Towing help you when you need assistance. Call us for more information, our service professionals are here to help.