It can be extremely dangerous sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck to arrive. To help keep yourself safe during your wait, follow these five tips:
Look for a Safe Place to Pull Over
When you're waiting for a tow, you want to do your best to find the safest place to pull your vehicle over. You want to be as far over to the right as you can. You also want to avoid busy intersections, junctions, etc. If possible, try to stop beside a mile marker or an easy-to-identify building. When you have no choice in the matter, and you can't get far enough away from the busy part of the road, you may need to consider getting out of your car and walking to safety.
Let Others Know You're in Trouble
One of the risks of being pulled over or broken down is other cars hitting you. You can reduce this risk by switching on your hazard lights and utilizing warning triangles or cones around your vehicle, especially behind it. Together, these measures will help other vehicles know that you are there and broken down so that they can move into another lane and avoid striking you.
Be Careful When Accepting Assistance from Strangers
In today's day and age, it's hard to find people that are willing to stop and help someone in need. So, you may want to be quick to accept their help if someone does stop. However, it is important to keep in mind that this puts you at risk. While there are good people out there, there are also bad people that are simply looking to take advantage of people in a situation like yours.
Keep Your Cell Phone Line Open
After you have made the call to the tow truck service, you want to try to stay off of your phone as much as you can. Of course, you should call a friend or a family member and let them know of your present situation so that someone close to you is aware. However, you want to maintain the battery on your cell phone in the event that you need to call 9-1-1 or the towing service calls you for additional information.
Request Identification from the Towing Service
Once the tow truck arrives, you need to immediately check the markings on the side of the truck and request identification. Sadly, there are some towing companies that will try to take you in and charge you a fortune. Therefore, it is important that you only leave with the company that you called and have verified prices with.
For more information, contact a professional in your area or visit a website like http://www.johnswreckerservice.com.
