Who Tows My Car After an Accident in Los Angeles?
The LAPD or the CHP will have a tow truck from companies the city uses to respond to your collision. Your car insurance company may send a tow truck. You can also contact your own tow truck company.
A multi-car pile-up on Freeway 10 could leave you in a totaled vehicle. A sideswipe accident along Wilshire Boulevard could disable your engine. In these cases, it’ll be up to you to decide who you’ll want to tow your vehicle away. It’s a question left up to you, but officers will call for a tow truck if you don’t.
Towing After a Los Angeles Car Accident
After an accident, try to make sure everyone involved is okay before you do anything. Call 911 and get an ambulance on the way immediately if someone is hurt. Once the scene is secure, one worry you’ll have is how to get your disabled vehicle towed from the scene.
This can be a stressful decision that leaves you feeling vulnerable to tow truck drivers who can be perceived as predatory. Most tow truck companies operate in good faith. But some unfair tow truck operators think they can charge as much as they want and hold your car hostage. The City of Los Angeles licenses and regulates local tow truck businesses. They also restrict what tow truck drivers can charge. This doesn’t mean you can’t get ripped off, but these days, it’s much less likely.
After an accident, if you don’t have an opinion on who to use, the LAPD will call for a tow truck from a list of approved tow truck companies the city uses. Your car insurance company may also have a preference and it’s a good idea to call your provider before agreeing to anything.
These are the usual choices for towing after a Los Angeles Car Accident worked by the LAPD:
- L.A. Police will call a tow truck. They will contact a company the city utilizes unless you instruct them otherwise. Make sure you are informed of who is towing your car away and where your vehicle is being taken. Your responding officer should provide you with a business card or a piece of paper with contact information about the tow truck company.
- Contact your own choice for tow truck service. You can choose to call your own preferred towing company. You’d also need to select the body shop you want your car towed to.
- Your Insurance Company Contacts a Towing Company. Your car insurance company may work with a particular tow truck operator and body shop in Los Angeles. It will likely be cheaper for you if you stay within the insurance company’s network of tow truck partners. If you can reach an insurance representative, they may contact a tow truck operator for you or give you a number to call.
Towing for Los Angeles Accidents Handled by the California Highway Patrol
You may be in an accident along one of Los Angeles’s busy highways or freeways and have to depend on The California Highway Patrol for help. The CHP works with certain approved Los Angeles County tow truck companies to remove disabled vehicles and vehicles that have been in a collision.
Several tow truck companies are on an approved list and the CHP makes calls for service based on a rotation. Every year, the Los Angeles CHP area commander establishes guidelines for reasonable rates that will be charged to accident victims. This is the 2022 – 2023 TOW SERVICE AGREEMENT that the California Highway Patrol enforces.
The objective is to ensure that L.A. traffic accident victims experience ethical and fair business practices on the part of private towing companies utilized by the CHP. This protection includes allowing vehicle owners to retrieve their cars in a convenient manner without being unfairly penalized.
Vehicle owners can decline a tow service called for by a CHP officer, even after a tow truck has arrived. The car owner won’t be charged if the CHP tow truck driver isn’t used. Drivers who have been in accidents can call a tow truck themselves or let their auto insurance company choose.
The CHP requires that the tow truck companies they utilize avoid acts of misconduct including:
- Rude or discourteous behavior.
- Lack of service, selective service, or refusal to provide service that the operator is capable of performing.
- Any act of sexual harassment or sexual impropriety.
- Unsafe driving practices.
- Exhibiting any objective symptoms of alcohol or drug use.
- The operator/tow truck driver shall submit to a preliminary alcohol screening test upon demand of the CHP if an odor of an alcoholic beverage is detected upon the person.
- Any acts of discrimination based on a protected group.
Tow truck companies can be disciplined and even removed from the California Highway Patrol’s trusted list if they break these rules or it’s found they charge excessive fees.
Earning Compensation After a Los Angeles Car Accident
If you’ve been seriously hurt in an L.A. car accident, the towing of your car should be your last concern. Focus on getting emergency care and then making a full recovery. Officers will make sure your car is stored someplace safe until you decide what to do with it.
A Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyer helps you set aside the time you need to heal while handling frustrating negotiations with the at-fault driver’s car insurance provider. Your attorney will be fighting to get the most out of your car accident claim so you don’t have to pay for your own injury care out of your own pocket.
Your personal injury lawyer will submit an injury claim that demands support for every hardship you’ve been through. These and other damages included on an insurance claim will increase the amount you’ll see on a car accident settlement check:
- Totals on hospital bills and physical therapy expenses.
- All costs associated with a permanent physical disability. These expenses include estimates on medical care over a lifetime, necessary renovations to a home, and perhaps job training for a new disability-friendly career.
- Wrongful death benefits. Families can earn support after losing a loved one in a tragic Los Angeles traffic accident. The support can cover the cost of a burial and any remaining ambulance and hospital bills. The income the deceased can no longer provide for a spouse and children would also be reimbursed.
- The hardship of dealing with chronic pain.
- Emotional trauma. Depression and anxiety can affect victims who may suffer a loss of enjoyment of life during a difficult recovery.
- Past and future lost wages and benefits while victims are away from work.
- Money for car repairs and to pay tow truck fees.
Contact a Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyer If You’ve Been Injured
If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury after a careless driver’s mistake, please speak with a skilled Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyer. Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, has an extensive history of helping injured local victims and their families recover the compensation they need to rebuild their lives after a major collision.
Mr. Gasparian offers a free consultation to all Los Angeles and Los Angeles County accident victims. It’s a no-risk way for victims to find out how much their injury is worth and how to avoid accepting less from a car insurance company. Medical bills, towing fees, and car repairs should all be fully covered by an at-fault driver’s car insurance provider.
