How to Stay Safe When Waiting For a Tow Truck
If you’ve run into trouble on the road and need a tow you will inevitably have to wait a while until the tow truck you’ve called in arrives. Truly professional towing services providers are well aware of the need for speed, some (mostly local towing companies which have a large enough fleet of tow trucks at their disposal) go so far as to guarantee a 30 min ETA. Still, a lot can happen even in just 30 min, there are severe hazards that go along with being stranded next to an immobilized vehicle, especially if this happens next to heavy passing by traffic. We’ve gathered for you some useful tips which will help keep you out of harm’s way while waiting for a tow truck to arrive.
It May Be Best to Wait Out of the Vehicle
Once you’ve called in a tow truck you may be inclined to just sit and wait in your car, listening to music, making a call or just passing time. It is highly advisable to consider waiting further from the road instead. A disabled vehicle parked by the side of the road may be hit by someone passing by, if you’re sitting in your car you may be severely injured. If there’s somewhere you can sit, safely away from traffic, watching for the tow truck to arrive, it is probably better to wait there rather than in the vehicle itself.
Make Your Vehicle and Yourselves as Visible as Possible
You probably have a warning triangle somewhere in your car’s trunk. You may very well also have a bright yellow vest you can put on. These items are there to be used in exactly the kind of situation where you are waiting for a tow truck. Turn on your car’s warning four blinker signal, put up the warning triangle some distance behind your car and put on the yellow vest. Doing this will not only drastically reduce the risk of you or your vehicle being hit but also allow the tow tech to easily spot you.
Let the Tow Tech Take Over
Once the tow tech has arrived don’t try to steer them to where you think they should park, make sure they’ve spotted you and then just step away and let them get on with the job. An experienced tow tech will take into account things that you’re not even aware of, there’ll be time to talk and let the tech know anything you want them to once they’ve finished loading your vehicle onto the back of the tow truck.
If you find that you’re being kept waiting longer than you anticipated we suggest you call up another towing company, get a quote and ETA, tell them you’ll let them know if you need them to rush over and then call the company you’re already waiting for to tell them that they are already late, that you have another company on standby and that if they do not arrive soon you’re going to cancel.