Tips for Towing Disabled Vehicles

By Ann Job of MSN Autos
Sophisticated new vehicles require great care and different types of towing techniques.

Always make certain that the tow truck driver knows the proper way to tow your vehicle.

On occasion, our car, van, truck or sport-utility vehicle can break down and need to be towed.

Decades ago, it wasn’t uncommon to see a friend, family member, neighbor or Good Samaritan towing the stranded vehicle home for a needy driver.

It’s rare to see this today—for good reason.

Towing practices, like today’s vehicles, are more sophisticated than they were years ago— so sophisticated, in fact, that there are more rules and “don’ts” than ever before.

Even AAA, the largest member-supported roadside assistance service in the United States, offers a towing manual for tow truck operators that has “more than 350 pages of details involving every make and model,” said Larry Keller, editor at AAA [...]

Blue, red and amber lights mean slow down and move over Law changes in effect today

From The Eagle Tribune 2008
By Jarret Bencks

When emergency vehicles arrive at an accident, safety officials said vehicles with lights that aren’t red or blue don’t get the same level of respect from motorists — and it puts workers in danger.

“It’s unnerving when someone blows by you at 70 mph,” said Bill Boynton, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, whose vehicles have amber lights. “We’ve had a few instances where people have had to jump over guardrails just to get out of the way.”

Beginning today, changes to the state’s Move Over Law will clearly include tow trucks and DOT vehicles as emergency vehicles. Drivers will be required to slow down and make room [...]