Do I Call The Cops, And Where Are We Towing This Thing?

July 26, 2008 11:51 AM

AutoAccident101: a) Do you always call the police? Surely if you don't the other party could later deny involvement. b) If your car is undriveable, when the tow truck turns up and they ask you, "where would you like it towed to?", where the hell do you get it towed to?

Sorry for the two-parter - they're just questions that I've never had to answer but would like to be prepared for.

On one hand it seems daft to call the police for every minor ding, but then if it was caused by someone else - perhaps whose vehicle was not damaged - and they say at the time they'll cover it, they could easily renage later, right?

And the towing thing? I don't know where I'd get my car towed to. It seems kinda stupid to tow it to my house where I can't do anything with it, and I don't carry an encyclopedic knowledge of body shops either in my area or in the area accident could occur.

posted by The_Partridge_Family to travel & transportation (28 comments total)

b) normally you'd have a regular mechanic you could have it towed to, or you'd have them bring it to the dealership if you have a service agreement with them. Otherwise, just the nearest body shop.

(No answer for a, I've never been in an accident *knocks wood*)
posted by Koko at 11:58 AM on July 26, 2008

I got broadsided by some kids in their dad's rental. Huge clouds of sweet smoke roiled out of the door when they opened it. I took a piece of paper, drew a drawing, and wrote a statement of just what happened. I had each occpant of the car sign it, followed by their driver's license numbers.

When the insurance company contacted me, they included a wholly new lawyer coached story transcript from the boys, who had apparently forgot about what they'd signed on the scene.

I faxed back my document. Settled in full, %100, no further questions asked.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:59 AM on July 26, 2008 [5 favorites]

a) Yes, if it's something that I will need to get fixed at some point.

b) You can get it towed to your residence, and then have it towed to a garage later, once you've made arrangements. Or you can tow it directly to a garage that you've called. Or the tow truck is from a garage and will tow you there, or they have a deal with a certain garage and will encourage you to have it towed there.

You probably want to keep at least a few phone numbers of a couple of local shops handy to your car, just in case. Just because you tow a car to a certain garage doesn't mean you are asking them to fix it. You can get it towed again, to another garage.

If you need to get towed in an unfamiliar area, usually the tow truck operator will have connections or phone numbers. And then you can have the car towed to your local shop later.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 12:01 PM on July 26, 2008

Following up on StickyCarpet, I like to carry a cheap disposable camera in the glove compartment to take photos immediately when it happens. Or rather if it happens. Still never been in such a situation.
posted by Teira at 12:06 PM on July 26, 2008

A) ALWAYS get a police report. It might look like nothing, but beneath the surface, bigger problems can linger. I speak from experience. A police officer family friend once said, "even if it doesn't look like even the paint is dinged, you should have a report to have an official record of the incident to protect yourself." YMMV on small accidents in big cities though - I was tapped (from behind) on the BQE in NYC one morning this spring, and I called just to see if I should bother reporting it. Not only was it their fault, but the other party drove off after taking pictures from their window and giving me the finger. Technically a hit and run, but it really was just a ding on my bumper, which I don't care about (my car is a bit older). They told me they wouldn't come out, but it would probably be a good idea to call my insurance company to get what happened down on paper just in case anything happened (either with they guy claiming I somehow was at fault or fled the scene, or with my car). I called my insurance company, they said, "ok, no big deal, let's just write this down just in case," and it had no effect on my rates because it wasn't my fault, and I wasn't making a claim.

B) Look up/get recommendations to an auto body/repair shop near your home or work. That's where it should be towed to. I had a fairly bad accident a few years ago on Long Island, but I had AAA Plus, and so I was able to get it towed to the shop that my family always uses, about an hour away, no issues. It was a Sunday, but they just towed it to the place and left it in the lot. It might be a good idea to write down a few recommended places (with printouts of a google map for the tow driver if it isn't close to the accident, but maybe I'm too nice) and keep it in your glove box.

Related, if you're in the US: get AAA if you don't have it, upgrade to AAA Plus if you can. It's worth every penny, even if you only use it once. Plus, it gives you discounts at certain (sometimes surprising) places.

on preview: Tiera: the film in disposable cameras can be ruined by the heat of a hot car sitting in the sun. It'll probably produce some image, but I wouldn't bet on it, especially if it's been sitting in your car for awhile, just in case. If you have a decent cell phone camera, that should work fine (and cell phone cameras are getting increasingly better), so if you can, just use that.
posted by AlisonM at 12:10 PM on July 26, 2008

Calling the police - do you dial 911 or do you try to find the local station number (unless someone's injured)?
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 12:14 PM on July 26, 2008

A police report is an official documentation of an accident. This is important if there are any insurance issues (either medical or automotive) that may come into play.

As a cyclist, I know that if I'm hit, I'm calling the police to get an accident report, so I have something to show to the driver's insurance company when I need reimbursement for medical or bike repair expenses.

Otherwise, you've got nothing but your word.
posted by entropone at 12:18 PM on July 26, 2008

I'd call 911. Either they will help you, or they will transfer you to the correct place.

I once called my local precinct for something that wasn't an emergency (someone had smashed my windshield the night before and I wanted to report it for insurance purposes and so that the police would have a record of it - there was a rash of kids doing it in my neighborhood), and they told me that I'd have to call 911. I was all, "nothing's happening now, no one is hurt, I just wanted to get a report made for my records..." and the lady was like, "I know...but call 911. That's why they're there."

In related news, my friend was in an accident a few months ago (I was in the car too), and we called 911 even though it wasn't a huge deal, both cars were still driveable, and no one was hurt. Officer came out and made the report, everyone was back on their way in about 20 minutes.

Gah, I have lots of bad car stories.
posted by AlisonM at 12:21 PM on July 26, 2008

Always get a police report. My fiancee didn't get one and had a hell of a time trying to get justice for her not-at-fault hit-and-run accident.

TPF, different jurisdictions have different non-emergency policies. Your best bet is to call 911 and tell them you have a non-emergency traffic accident. If 911 keeps you on hold for a while, you may want to try 888-GOOG-411.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:22 PM on July 26, 2008

if you have an accident, you call 911. that doesn't mean they will come out (the LAPD once said they would come to a fatality accident I was involved in but they took four hours to send someone while the fire department took less than three minutes.)

towing is kind of tricky - your AAA coverage might just cover the first five or so miles but if you don't tow it home you'll incur sometimes hefty storage charges.

keep a camera in your car. some throwaway supermarktet thing will do. shoot the whole roll if anything happens - driver, passenger, cars, position... all that.
posted by krautland at 12:23 PM on July 26, 2008

Here in Ontario (and I assume elsewhere) the rule is you only call the cops if there's an injury, or damage above some dollar figure. Otherwise, don't call 911 just get the cars off the road. Then go to an "accident reporting" office where both parties fill out a report, separately, and the cops deal with assigning fault based on the statements. Insurance companies typically go on what the police report says with respect to fault.

"No fault" states do other things.
posted by drmarcj at 12:24 PM on July 26, 2008

I've only got 3 data points for you:

Accident 1: Someone backed into my car while they were trying to get out of a parking space (I was in the aisle of the parking lot, waiting for other cars to move so I could exit). I was flustered (mostly because my shithead bf at the time was screaming at me and the other woman) and didn't get any information or anything which led to much confusion and aggravation later. (No police report or anything like that.)

Accident 2: I bumped someone's rear bumper in stop and go traffic because I was driving an SUV with shitty brakes. No reports filed because she wasn't concerned about the damage to her car or mine and we both went on our way happily.

Accident 3: Some bitch rearended me going 45 mph and ended up totalling my car and pushing me into oncoming traffic. My car was undriveable and therefore, we ended up calling the police because we needed someone to direct traffic and call for a rollback to move both cars (her minivan was in pretty bad shape too, cracked radiator and everything). My dad told me to tell the tow truck driver that we were taking my car to our house (luckily, only a very short distance away). He said that you should NEVER let them take your car somewhere unknown to you because it can be a shady place that will charge loads of storage fees.
posted by sperose at 12:42 PM on July 26, 2008

1) If you mean getting dinged with an opening door or a shopping cart, probably not, if anyone hits you while moving though, then yes.

2) Call your insurance carrier at the scene and ask them where to tow it, they are paying for it after all.
posted by Bonzai at 12:54 PM on July 26, 2008

If you don't call the police, then the incident, if it becomes disputed, devolves into a he-said, she-said matter. The one with the best case and the most evidence (photos, witnesses, etc) wins.

But a police report may make it quite a bit easier to win, as the other party and their insurance company will know that there exists an official report of the scene made by a disinterested, third-party.

There's no one right answer, although calling the police will rarely hurt things. A lot depends on the severity of the accident and your personal take on the situation. IF it were just a ding and IF I felt good about the other person and IF I was able to gather evidence and IF I could weather a long, drawn-out negotiation, then I could do without a police report. But that's a lot of IFs.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:56 PM on July 26, 2008

I'm very surprised at all the people saying ABSOLUTELY YES to calling the police for every minor accident. It must depend on where you live; here in Los Angeles, if the police became involved in every fender bender they would have to hire a lot more police officers. In my experience the police are quite likely not even to show up if nobody was injured; that's what the insurance companies are for.

So the answer to A) obviously depends on where you live. For my part, I wouldn't bother the police unless an injury is involved. I've had two people hit me while I was at a dead stop and the police were not involved either time. In both instances the insurance worked it out and the other party was assigned 100% responsibility and paid in full; my rates did not change.
posted by Justinian at 1:02 PM on July 26, 2008

For B), my sister had an accident in mom's car (the car was undriveable) and my mom had the tow truck driver tow it to his lot. The insurance company then had it moved to a garage. If you have insurance and have your insurance card with you, you can call the company and ask them where they would like it to be towed since an claims adjuster will have to come out to see it anyway. Also, the cops will call a city tow truck if the car is blocking traffic. If at all possible, don't let the city tow your car. That will be a hell of a lot more expensive than having a private tow truck company do it.

Also, if your car has to be towed, don't forget to take everything out of it before they tow it away.
posted by nooneyouknow at 1:14 PM on July 26, 2008

As far as calling the police: the basic answer is that it's better safe than sorry. I was in a super, super-minor fender bender. I rear-ended someone, but if I'd had about an inch more room, I'd have stopped short of contact. The only apparent damage was that my license plate was flattened out a bit, and the kids I hit had a beat-up Volvo with a thick bumper and laughed the whole thing off. Only later on did I realize that I'd done some serious damage to the 'supports' for my bumper, knocking the whole thing loose. Since I was at fault anyway, and since my car was a junker, it wasn't a big deal, but imagine if they had been at fault, or if I my neck started hurting the next day... (Assuming you don't have any outstanding warrants, aren't intoxicated, etc.), it can't hurt to get a police report, but it can sure help.

While people calling 911 for non-emergencies is a pet peeve of mine, it's also something you should go right ahead and do if there's any doubt. However, if there's definitely no injuries and you're safely off the road, and if you have the local number for the PD, go for that. The 'obvious' reason is that you're not tying up a 911 line, but the non-obvious reason is how most 911 systems work: they're routed to a regional (in NH and MA, at least, statewide) "Public Safety Answering Point" (PSAP).

In a nutshell, the regional PSAP takes your name, location, and nature of the call, and then will route your call to the appropriate local dispatcher. I once talked with a dispatcher who mentioned that he witnessed a horrible accident take place on his way home one day. Being a dispatcher and being in his own town, he knew the local number by heart and called that to report it. The next day he went into work and, out of curiosity, pulled the tapes of calls and radio transmissions: PD and EMS were dispatched in response to his call, and already rolling before the first 911 got routed to the dispatch center. So not only do you not have to feel bad about dialing 911, but you'll probably get a quicker response if you call the local number. Take a couple minutes now to look up the local numbers, toss 'em in your phone, and you'll be all set.

(Another quick tip, as a long time scanner-listener: if you're not sure if there are injuries when you call, they'll usually dispatch an ambulance to play it safe, though this may be different in busy cities. In a minor accident, check first to see if there are injuries, and then call, to save a needless trip for the EMTs.)

I've never had a car towed, but I want to second AlisonM's advice: AAA is so worth it, whether you lock yourself out of the car, run out of gas, break down, or are in an accident. (And don't forget this thread of all the other perks.) I'm a AAA Plus member, because otherwise you'll pay an arm and a leg for towing.
posted by fogster at 2:15 PM on July 26, 2008

In San Francsico the cops won't come unless there's been a serious injury (Or it's something spectacular thats worth gawking at.) But call them anway because your insurance will like it.

But please don't call 911 unless it's an Emergency. Everyone should have the local police, sheriff and highway patrol numbers in thier phone, which are the people to call in this case. If you don't have them in your phone, go do it right now. It will take a minute and will save 911 for people who are in dire need. Dial 411 if you need information, you won't be taking resources away from those who are trying to save lives.
posted by Ookseer at 2:54 PM on July 26, 2008

Filing a police report in even a minor accident can really protect you later. We had a driver once not call the cops after a very minor accident. He wasn't at fault. The other guy said that it was no big deal, etc. But the other guy called the cops later and said our driver hit him and took off. Lo and behold, now we have a guy charged with leaving the scene of an accident. And a threatened lawsuit. It took a lot of time and trouble but it finally got straightened out. Had the other guy had a passenger to make a witness statement, our guy would have been hosed.

So always file a report.
posted by azpenguin at 2:54 PM on July 26, 2008

The police don't just show up and write some sort of report. They often act as dispute resolvers meaning that generally someone walks away with a ticket and an official declaration of fault.

This can be good and bad depending on a myriad of circumstances including, but not limited to what side of bed the cop woke up on that morning...

Anecdote: my neighbor, while in the process of moving out, ran a U-Haul up and onto the front of my Jetta. When the police showed up one of the officers wanted to write me a ticket because my car was parked too close to the entrance of the lot the neighbor was trying to pull into. Her argument was that we were both at fault, her because of her driving, me because of my parking. It took quite a bit of arguing to convince the cop that if someone who hits a parked car is responsible for the accident. Ugh.

So when do you call a cop? Anytime there is a dispute about what happened as far as I can tell. Anytime you feel like you need a report, or don't trust the other person. Anytime there is injury or autos are unmovable and blocking traffic.

Of course I commute by bicycle nowadays. So if I'm involved in an accident (and not killed) I'll call the cops just on principle.
posted by wfrgms at 3:06 PM on July 26, 2008

So what happens if you're in an accident out of hours - you know a local shop, but they're closed, and as per most major cities, they don't have a big open yard in which to leave your car?
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 3:31 PM on July 26, 2008

a) Check your local traffic law. Here there's a very low lower limit on the dollar amount of damage done, something like $2000, before there's a legal requirement to notify the police. Failure to do so can get you charged with "leaving the scene of an accident". My impression is that when the law was drafted, $2000 bought a hell of a lot more mechanical repair and panelbeating than it does today, when it buys approximately a headlight ... but maybe I'm overly cynical about that.

b) This has been well covered ... but if your mechanic doesn't have a parking lot in which to leave your car, have it taken to your house instead.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 4:12 PM on July 26, 2008

I didn't call 911 two different times when accidents occurred in a place where I didn't feel terribly safe (i.e. likelihood of causing ANOTHER fender-bender seemed high.) Both times, the other driver seemed very reasonable -- contrite, handed over their insurance info, etc.

Man, did I regret it. Both accidents were absolutely, positively, clearly not my fault. One time, the other driver gave their insurance a completely cockamamie story, which delayed the proceedings. The other time, the (commercial) driver was AWOL and it was difficult to get his company to cooperate. (Both times, the other driver's insurance company eventually ruled that I was not at fault and that they would cover everything.)

But no matter how late at night or how vulnerable I feel next time (knocking wood that there is no next time!) I'm calling the cops.
posted by desuetude at 4:31 PM on July 26, 2008

Call your insurance company and ask them to help you arrange a tow truck and a destination. They most likely have arrangements for off-hours drop-offs at their preferred service providers. The tow truck company can also "help" with that, but I wouldn't trust a tow truck driver's recommended garage as far as I could throw it.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:21 PM on July 26, 2008

Ookseer, I know you mean well, but in my experience many municipal police agencies specifically ask that in fender-benders or non-emergencies the parties involved should call 911 and report a non-emergency (i.e. Pasadena, CA). It does seem kind of counter-intuitive, especially with a news story every week about some weirdo calling 911 over spilt milk.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:03 PM on July 26, 2008

I've been in one serious accident. In early morning rush hour just south of Portland, Oregon, I was sideswiped by a tractor-trailer rig and my car was totaled. I was lucky to survive. The truck driver pulled over, fortunately, or I would have had no idea what happened. I was dazed.

I cannot remember how the police were contacted. I didn't have a cell phone. (This was 01 Dec 2000.) Maybe one of the witnesses did? In any event, the police asked if traffic on the freeway was blocked. It was not. "Take care of it yourself then," they said. So we did. Everything was fine. (Maybe the other guy was good and honest?)

I called a towing company, and they just towed the car to their lot. Later, they moved it to an insurance-company specified repair yard.

The most difficult part of the ordeal, actually, was the insurance settlement...
posted by jdroth at 10:44 PM on July 26, 2008

As infinitewindow says, YMMV (no pun intended). In San Francisco they don't want you to call them or especially 911 unless it's an injury accident or it caused a major disruption in a public service (can't clear the road for traffic, power out, etc.). I was told this directly by the SFPD after an accident. What's true in Pasadena is not true in San Francisco. Just as when I lived in smaller towns and other countries the response was different. If you authoritatively want to know what to do in an accident, call your local precinct now and ask them what you should do if it happens because every local jurisdiction is different.
posted by Ookseer at 2:34 AM on July 27, 2008

In NY State, if you don't get an official accident report filed by the police, you're not getting a cent from any insurance company. YMMV in other states, but consider that a police accident report will provide verifiable proof of what happened. Then you don't need to bother with any he-said-she-said crap.
posted by Citrus at 7:57 AM on July 28, 2008