This Tow Truck Scam Almost Cost A Person's Life. Here's What You Need To Know
Daring activities of unscrupulous tow truck operators have been increasing recently.
By Darian Goh — 10 Jun 2015, 03:43 PM
What would you do if a tow truck offers you help on a busy highway after you got into a car accident?
In a Facebook post by Zia Shah that went viral, she explained that her father accepted a tow truck's help to move his car to the police station for RM200 after his usual tow truck service would take some time to arrive
But instead of taking the car to the police station as agreed, the tow truck brought the car to their workshop and threatened to keep the car unless they were paid
When the tow truck arrived at the police station, the workers demanded to be paid RM2,000. The Zia's father turned to the police for help but they did not respond as he had already signed the consent form.
After being forced to pay the hefty sum, a worker dropped the car off only to ask for RM200 as a "dropping fee"
When Zia's father refused, the worker then went to the truck to take a rod and chased her father only to be rescued by a security guard and her father's employee
Zia later called the police but no one picked up. Thankfully, the worker left after being told by his boss to do so.
Zia mentioned in her post that her family is reluctant to make a police report as they are worried that more harm should come to them if they did
1. Check for any injuries and the safety of the passengers
The most important thing to do immediately after a car accident is to assess any injuries you or the other drivers and passengers have received. Determine your own safety, then check with the other people involved and, if necessary, immediately call for an ambulance.
2. Snap a photo of the cars involved in the accident. Stay calm and try to remember the events and what happened. Note them down if needed.
3. If the car is obstructing traffic, move the car to the side and put on your hazard lights or a sign to alert oncoming drivers
If you can safely drive your vehicle, move it off to the side of the road and out of the path of oncoming traffic. This will keep you at a safe distance from traffic while you exchange information with the other drivers and make it easier for police and ambulance workers to reach the scene of the accident.
4. Should you be approached by tow trucks nearby, never take up their offer. There has been numerous cases where accidents has been engineered through the use of nails or oils on a targeted road.
For starters, you should never take up the offer of a “random” tow truck that “just so happened to be nearby” your car crash/breakdown location. There have been many cases where the tow truck operators themselves engineered the accidents, through the use of oil or nails on a targeted stretch of road. What you should do, is to contact a trustworthy service operator to assist you in such situations.
paultan.org5. Call your local motor insurance company or a trusted person for help
The best option is to call your car’s official service centre or dealer for emergency roadside assistance. Certain models with electronic gear selectors and/or parking brakes may even need a special tool to engage a “tow mode.” Otherwise, the next best choice is to go with the tow truck service provided by your motor insurance company, or an association like AAM (Automobile Association of Malaysia) that offers breakdown services.
paultan.org6. If the accident is serious, call the police and to make an official report
Police will take statements from all drivers involved in the car accident and determine if a police report is necessary. This information will be important when filing insurance claims for your automobile accident. Write down the investigating officer's name and badge number in case your insurance agent or attorney needs to contact the officer. Get the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the other drivers involved in the traffic accident. Write down the make, model, year and license plate number of each vehicle. Be sure to obtain all insurance information including the company, policy number and any insurance agent contact information the driver can provide.