Car accidents leave many victims confused about what to do. Insurance company forms are confusing, and many people suffer devastating injuries that prevent them from working. But there are other, more immediate problems as well. After a crash, your vehicle could be rendered inoperable. If you suffer a minor fender bender, you can probably drive away. But T-bone accidents, head-on collisions, and other crashes often tear off fenders and damage vehicles to the point they cannot be driven away from the scene.
What happens next? As an established Las Vegas car accident firm, we have received panicky calls from people involved in car accidents. One immediate concern is getting their vehicle towed to a body shop. Below, we will answer some of the more common questions that people have.
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There are really two ways that a vehicle can get towed. First, the car owner can call a towing company to come out and pick up the vehicle. The vehicle then gets towed to a storage facility or to a mechanic/body shop. You can get on the phone and call someone. If you don’t know who to call—maybe you are only visiting the city or you’ve never had an accident before—then you can check on Yelp.
Another option is for the police officer to call to have the vehicle towed. This can happen when the driver has been picked up and taken to the hospital in an ambulance and the police officer needs to clear the road so that traffic can get started again. The officer will decide which towing company to call, and you will need to get this information from the police department later. You shouldn’t expect the police to be worried about either the cost of the tow or the cost of storing the vehicle in the lot.
Believe it or not, this is really two questions. There is the immediate cost of paying the towing company so they come out and pick up a vehicle. People don’t tow for free, and they want an immediate payment. If you call, then you will probably need to give them a credit or debit card number. If you only have cash, then tell them.
If the police call for the tow truck, you’ll still be on the hook for payment before you can get your vehicle out of storage.
Beyond the immediate cost, there is the question of liability for the accident. Nevada is a fault state. Under our traffic rules, the driver who is responsible for the accident must cover the economic losses of those injured. And this means that the driver will need to cover the costs of towing, which is part of the property damage involved in a claim. If the other driver has to pay to repair your vehicle, he will need to pay for the towing.
So, to sum up—the owner of the vehicle usually pays first but then can receive compensation in an accident claim or lawsuit for any towing and/or storage costs.
You could. If you were to blame for the accident and know you are not going to get any compensation, then you might want to have a friend come move you. If you believe your car will be covered in a settlement, or if you have collision coverage that pays for towing, then you might want to hire someone else to tow you.
This can sometimes occur. If you are stranded in a rural area without phone service, then it might be difficult to contact someone to come tow your vehicle. At best, you will need to lock it and then try to get to town to find someone with a tow truck.
Another problem sometimes arises if you have no money. You might not have a credit or debit card to pay a towing company. You might also not have any cash.
Unfortunately, you can’t really leave your vehicle in the middle of the road or even on the shoulder if you manage to move it there. Eventually, the police will call to have the vehicle towed and sent to storage. Before you can get it back, of course, you’ll need to come up with the money to pay the storage company. Talk to the police if you have no money but need your car towed.
You want to take pictures of damage to the car. If at all possible, you should take at least a few pictures of the vehicles where they ended up immediately after the crash. This type of picture will definitely help an attorney try to reconstruct how the accident happened.
Once you move the vehicles to the side of the road, you should still take pictures of any vehicle involved in the accident. Focus on the damage—dents, missing car parts, scratches. Get the pictures now, because another person might have his vehicle quickly repaired, which means it will be impossible to reconstruct the damage that occurred.
You can ask, but you should probably take a cab if your injuries are not life-threatening but your vehicle does not work. Save the receipt because you might get reimbursed as part of a settlement. Don’t know which hospital to go to? For a minor injury help Las Vegas map resource is a great place to start.
Yes. If the other driver is to blame, then you can probably get reimbursed for the cost of a rental car. To find a rental, see our Las Vegas car rental map resource.
Ladah Law Firm is a leader in helping injured victims receive compensation after a crash. We can analyze your case and assist in getting compensation for property damage, including for the cost of having a vehicle towed. We also fight for damages to cover bodily injuries, emotional distress, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Contact us today. We offer a free consultation to those who call us at 702-252-0055.