Most truck claims are about the vehicle. This one is mostly about the place. Tow operators work standing in or beside a live traffic lane, often at night, often in weather, next to a driver who has just broken down and is standing there too. The vehicle that causes the harm is frequently not the tow truck at all, but the one that failed to move over.
By Michael Mangione, Legal Research EditorLast reviewed August 1, 202627 min read
The roadside is the hazard Move Over laws vary by state Three different people get hurt Dispatch records go quickly No fee unless you recover Independent and attorney vetted The roadside is the hazard Move Over laws vary by state Three different people get hurt Dispatch records go quickly No fee unless you recover Independent and attorney vetted
Shoulder crashes
33,000
Crashes along the shoulder of a road in 2024, of which 578 were fatal, according to federal figures.
Move Over coverage
48 of 51
Jurisdictions whose Move Over law covers tow trucks, counting the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Operators killed
20 in 2023
Tow operators among the 45 incident responders killed in struck-by incidents that year.
Who is at risk
Three people
The operator, the stranded driver, and everyone approaching the scene in traffic.
Key takeaways
The place matters more than the vehicle. These claims usually turn on what was happening at the roadside, not on the mechanical condition of the tow truck.
Move Over laws exist everywhere but do not say the same thing. Every jurisdiction has one, most extend it to tow trucks, and the penalties and definitions differ considerably.
The injured person is often not in a vehicle at all. Operators and stranded drivers are struck on foot, which changes both the medical picture and the legal analysis.
Dispatch and scene records decide these cases. When the call came in, when the truck arrived, where it was positioned and what lights were showing are all recorded somewhere, briefly.
Editorial content, not legal advice
This guide is written and reviewed by our editorial team to be accurate and current. It is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Move Over laws differ in every state and are amended often, and how a violation affects a civil claim is a separate question again. Confirm the position with a licensed attorney. If you are facing an emergency, call 911.
01 What this kind of lawyer does
Quick answer
A tow truck accident lawyer reconstructs a scene rather than a collision. Where the truck was parked, what lights were on, whether cones or flares were out, how long the operator had been exposed, and whether the approaching driver complied with the state's Move Over law are the questions that decide these cases.
The general mechanics of a commercial vehicle claim are covered in our truck accident guide. What is different here is that the tow truck is often stationary and lit, and the harm comes from traffic passing it.
Establishing the scene. Position, lighting, warning devices and lane closure are the core facts, and most of them exist only in photographs and dispatch logs.
Identifying every party. The towing company, the passing motorist, the motor club or insurer that dispatched the call, and sometimes the agency that ordered the tow.
The gist
Whether you were the operator, the stranded driver or someone who came upon the scene, the roadside facts decide it. We can help you find a lawyer when the facts support it, and say so plainly when they do not.
Bottom line: the scene is the case. Photographs and dispatch records are worth more here than almost anything else.
02 The roadside is the hazard
Quick answer
Working beside a live traffic lane is among the most dangerous things anyone does on a road. Federal figures record about 33,000 crashes along road shoulders in a single year, 578 of them fatal, and towing carries an occupational death rate many times the private-sector average.
This is why a tow truck accident so often has nothing to do with the tow truck's own driving. The truck is parked, lit and doing its job, and a passing vehicle arrives at speed.
How dangerous the shoulder is
About 33,000 shoulder crashes in a year, 578 of them fatal
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Move Over Safety
The agency reports that in 2024, about 33,000 traffic crashes happened along the shoulder of a road, and that 578 were deadly. It also notes that some states have extended their Move Over law beyond first responders to cover other stopped vehicles displaying flashing lights, including tow trucks, utility and construction vehicles, trash trucks, and disabled vehicles. That last category matters: in some places the law protects the broken-down motorist as well as the person who came to help. Read the NHTSA material
If you have broken down, get away from the traffic side
The most dangerous place at a breakdown is standing beside your own car on the traffic side. Colorado's transportation department, reporting figures from the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, states that nearly 350 people a year are struck and killed while outside a disabled vehicle. If you can get the vehicle off the roadway, do. If you cannot, the usual advice is to get out on the side away from traffic and wait well back from the road rather than beside the car, unless conditions make that unsafe. Follow whatever the emergency operator or responding officer tells you.
The exposure
Feet from moving traffic.
03 Do you need a lawyer?
Quick answer
Anyone struck at a roadside scene should speak to a tow truck accident lawyer. These claims involve several possible defendants, a statutory duty that varies by state, and scene evidence that is cleared away within hours. None of that is well suited to handling alone.
Plenty of these resolve without a lawyer, and an honest firm will say so on the first call. The list below sorts the two situations quickly.
Legal help almost certainly matters if
Anyone on foot was struck, however briefly.
You were the operator and were injured working a scene.
A passing driver failed to move over or slow down.
A towed vehicle came loose or shifted.
More than one company or insurer is now involved.
It may be simpler than you think if
There were no injuries and only minor vehicle damage.
The dispute is purely about towing or storage charges.
The insurer has accepted responsibility in writing and paid in full.
You were not involved and suffered no loss.
Illustrative example
An operator is loading a car on the hard shoulder when a passing vehicle clips the ramp and injures him. The insurer treats it as a routine road traffic claim between two drivers. Nobody has looked at whether the passing driver complied with the state's Move Over law, and nobody has established what the scene looked like before it was cleared.
Scene evidence disappears within hours. A review takes minutes.
You can start a free case review whenever you are ready. There is no cost, no obligation, and if your situation does not call for a lawyer we will tell you that directly.
04 Move Over laws, and where they stop
Quick answer
Every state and the District of Columbia has a Move Over law requiring drivers to change lanes or slow down for stopped vehicles displaying warning lights. They do not all cover the same vehicles. Federal auditors found that while all 51 jurisdictions cover first responders, 48 extend that protection to tow trucks, which means three do not.
This is the most geographically variable thing on the page, and it is worth knowing which side of the line your state falls on before anyone characterizes what the passing driver owed you.
What the federal audit found
All 51 cover first responders; 48 also cover tow trucks
US Government Accountability Office, Roadside Safety: DOT Should Update Public Awareness Materials on Move Over Laws
Reviewing every jurisdiction's statute, the auditors found that all (51) states' Move Over laws cover first responder vehicles, such as law enforcement vehicles, fire trucks, and ambulances, and that Move Over laws in most (48) states also cover tow trucks. A further 42 cover highway maintenance or construction vehicles or work zones. The report's count of 51 covers the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Coverage is only the start: definitions differ too, and the report gives Maine as an example of a state whose law reaches beyond ordinary first responders to include hazardous material response vehicles. Read the GAO report
Move Over law coverage, by type of stopped vehicle
Number of jurisdictions, out of 51, whose Move Over law covers each category
First responder vehicles
51
Tow trucks
48
Highway maintenance or construction
42
Source: US Government Accountability Office, Roadside Safety. Bars are ordered from broadest coverage to narrowest, not chronologically. The denominator of 51 is the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, which is how the report counts.
Coverage is not the same as equal protection. A peer-reviewed review of these statutes notes that Indiana treats a Move Over violation causing bodily injury as a felony where the person hurt is affiliated with an authorized emergency vehicle, but that other responders, including tow truck drivers, do not receive that expanded protection. Two people injured in the same way at the same roadside can therefore sit under quite different penalty regimes depending on their job and their state.
A traffic offense is not automatically a civil win
Whether a Move Over violation proves negligence in your civil claim is a separate question of state law. Some states treat breach of a safety statute as establishing negligence directly. Others treat it as evidence a jury may weigh alongside everything else. A citation is useful either way, but it is a starting point rather than a result, and anyone who tells you a ticket decides the case is overselling it.
05 Three different people get hurt
Quick answer
A tow truck accident is not one kind of case but three: the operator struck while working, the stranded motorist struck at their own breakdown, and the ordinary road user hit by a tow truck in transit or by a vehicle it was towing. Each has a different defendant, a different insurer, and a different evidential problem.
Most pages on this subject treat these as one topic. They are not, and knowing which one you are in tells you where the case will be fought.
The three situations in tow truck claims and what each turns on
Who was hurt
Usual defendant
What the case turns on
The tow operator, working a scene
The passing motorist
Move Over compliance, scene lighting and positioning, and any workers compensation interaction
The stranded motorist at a breakdown
The passing motorist, sometimes the towing company
Where they were standing, what warning was displayed, and how long they waited
A road user struck by the tow truck
The towing company and its driver
Driver hours and qualification, vehicle condition, and how the load was secured
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
The first of those carries a complication worth flagging early. An operator injured at work may have a workers compensation claim against their employer and a separate claim against the driver who hit them. Those two run on different timetables and interact, and getting the sequence wrong can cost money that is difficult to recover later.
Who is actually being killed at these scenes
Tow operators were the largest single group in 2023
Journal of Road Safety, Move-over Laws and Incident Response Personnel Safety in the USA
Reporting Emergency Responder Safety Institute figures, the study records 45 fatalities among traffic incident response personnel from struck-by-vehicle incidents in the United States in 2023, of whom 18 were law enforcement, 20 were tow truck operators, and 8 were from fire or EMS. Tow operators were the largest single group. One note on those figures: the three components sum to 46 rather than the stated total of 45, and we have reproduced the source's numbers as published rather than silently adjusting either. The discrepancy does not affect the point that matters here, which is that tow operators were the largest single category. The same review observes that while all states have implemented Move Over laws, the protection these statutes offer varies significantly, and cites federal reporting that a large majority of Americans are unaware the laws exist at all. Read the study
In transit
The load is another vehicle.
06 When the tow itself goes wrong
Quick answer
A tow truck in motion is carrying a load that was attached at the roadside, in a hurry, often in poor conditions. If the towed vehicle comes loose, swings, or sheds parts, the resulting harm is squarely the towing company's problem, and the question becomes how the hookup was done and by whom.
This is the one part of a tow claim that resembles an ordinary commercial vehicle case, and it is worth separating from the roadside material above.
How the vehicle was attached. Wheel lift, flatbed with straps or chains, or a hook and chain arrangement. Each has its own failure modes and each leaves different marks.
Whether safety chains were used. They exist precisely so that a primary attachment failure does not release the vehicle. Their presence or absence is usually visible in scene photographs.
Who did the hookup. The operator, or a second person, or the vehicle's own driver helping. This affects both liability and what any employer knew.
Whether the load was suitable at all. Weight, damage and drivetrain all affect how a vehicle can lawfully and safely be towed, and a damaged car is not always towable the usual way.
Photograph the attachment before the vehicle is released
Once the towed vehicle is unloaded, the evidence of how it was attached is gone. If a car of yours was being towed when something went wrong, photographs of the straps, chains, hooks and their anchor points are worth taking before anyone disconnects anything. If the vehicle has already been released, the storage yard may still hold it, and a written request to preserve it in its current condition should go out immediately rather than after an insurer responds.
07 The evidence that decides it
Quick answer
Dispatch records showing when the call came and when the truck arrived, scene photographs showing position and lighting, the truck's own camera or telematics data, the police report and any Move Over citation, the operator's training and hours, and for a load failure the attachment hardware itself.
The distinctive item is the dispatch log. It timestamps everything and it is generated automatically, which makes it harder to reconstruct after the fact than a witness account.
Dispatch and call records. When the call was received, which unit was assigned, when it arrived and when it cleared. Often held by a motor club or insurer rather than the towing company.
Scene photographs. Position of the truck, which lights were showing, whether cones or triangles were deployed, and where each person was standing.
Camera and telematics data. Many recovery vehicles carry cameras or tracking units. This data usually overwrites on a cycle measured in days.
The police report and any citation. Including whether a Move Over violation was recorded, which is a fact worth having even where it does not decide liability.
The attachment hardware. Where a towed vehicle came loose, the straps, chains and hooks are physical evidence and they get put straight back into service.
08 What to do after the collision
Quick answer
Get out of the traffic lane first and stay out of it. Then: get medical attention, photograph the scene before it is cleared, get the police report number and ask whether a Move Over citation was issued, identify every company involved, decline recorded statements, and get preservation demands out for dispatch and camera records.
The first step is not evidence gathering. At a live roadside the traffic is still coming.
1
Get clear of the traffic lane
Move behind a barrier or well onto the verge, away from the side traffic is passing. Do not stand between vehicles or beside the roadway to take photographs. Secondary crashes at incident scenes are common and they strike the people already there.
2
Get medical attention
Pedestrian and struck-by injuries are frequently worse than they first appear, and adrenaline masks a great deal at a chaotic scene. A same day record is what links an injury to this incident.
3
Photograph the scene from where you safely are
The truck's position, its lights, any cones or triangles, lane markings, and the resting position of every vehicle. Use zoom rather than walking closer. The scene will be cleared within the hour and never looks the same again.
4
Ask about a Move Over citation
Get the report number and ask the responding officer whether a Move Over or failure to slow violation is being recorded. It is far easier to establish at the scene than months later.
5
Identify every company present
The towing company, any motor club or roadside program that dispatched it, and the details of the passing driver. More than one insurer is usually involved and they do not volunteer each other's existence.
6
Demand the records in writing
Naming the dispatch and call log, any camera or telematics data, the operator's training and duty records, and where a load failed, the attachment hardware itself.
Timing
Camera data overwrites in days.
09 Deadlines and vanishing evidence
Quick answer
The statute of limitations is set by state law and is commonly two years, though some states are shorter. Far sooner than that, the scene is cleared, camera footage overwrites, dispatch systems age off their records, and the attachment hardware goes back into daily use.
Two extra complications apply here. If a public authority ordered the tow, a much shorter notice deadline may apply. And if you were the operator, a workers compensation claim has its own clock entirely.
Hours
The scene is cleared
Positions, debris, cones and lighting all disappear. Whatever was photographed in the first hour is usually all that will ever exist.
Days 1 to 30
Camera and telematics data overwrites
Recording cycles are often measured in days. A written preservation demand needs to land inside that window, not after an insurer replies.
Weeks to months
Notice deadlines where a public body is involved
If an agency ordered the tow, a claim against it may require formal notice long before the ordinary filing deadline. This varies by state and is easy to miss.
Year 1 to 2
The filing deadline arrives
Two years is the most common period, and some states are shorter. Where a workers compensation claim also exists, confirm both clocks rather than assuming they match.
Bottom line: the useful evidence here has a shelf life measured in days, not years. Preservation demands are the first thing that should happen.
10 How state law changes the answer
Quick answer
More than on most pages on this site. Your state decides whether its Move Over law covers tow trucks at all, what penalty attaches, whether breaking it proves negligence, how a workers compensation claim interacts with a claim against the driver, and the filing deadline.
This is the page where the geography genuinely matters, because the underlying duty itself is not uniform.
Whether tow trucks are covered. Federal auditors found 48 of 51 jurisdictions extend Move Over protection to tow trucks. In the remainder, the duty owed to an operator rests on ordinary negligence instead.
What penalty attaches. Indiana, for example, treats injury to someone affiliated with an authorized emergency vehicle as a felony but does not extend that to tow truck drivers.
Effect of a statutory breach. Some states treat violation of a safety statute as establishing negligence directly. Others treat it as evidence for a jury to weigh.
Workers compensation interaction. Where an injured operator recovers from both systems, states differ on what the compensation insurer may claim back out of the settlement.
Shared fault. Most states reduce recovery by your share. A minority bar it entirely once that share crosses a threshold.
Choosing counsel
Ask about the dispatch log.
11 How to choose a tow truck accident lawyer
Quick answer
Look for a firm that asks what the scene looked like before it asks about injuries, knows whether your state's Move Over law covers tow trucks, moves on dispatch and camera records within days, and can handle a workers compensation claim running alongside if you were the operator.
The quickest test is whether they ask about the dispatch log. It is the record most likely to settle the timeline and the one most often never requested.
They ask about the scene first. Position, lighting and warning devices, before anything else.
They know the local Move Over position. Whether it covers tow trucks, and what breaching it does in a civil claim in your state.
They move within days on records. Dispatch logs and camera data, not after an insurer responds.
They can run both claims. Or will refer the compensation side properly, if you were injured at work.
An active, clean license. Verified good standing with the state bar and no unresolved discipline. You can check this yourself.
12 Questions to ask, and red flags
Quick answer
Ask whether your state's Move Over law covers tow trucks, what has been demanded in writing and when, whether the dispatch log and camera data have been requested, who all the potential defendants are, how a compensation claim would interact, and exactly what the fee agreement says about costs if you lose.
You are interviewing them as much as they are assessing you. Vague answers to specific questions tell you a great deal.
Does this state's Move Over law cover tow trucks, and what does breaching it do here?
Has the dispatch and call log been requested, and on what date?
Is there camera or telematics data, and has it been preserved?
Who are all the potential defendants, including any motor club or agency?
If I was working, how does a compensation claim interact with this one?
Is any physical evidence being preserved, and who is arranging that?
What is your contingency percentage, and who pays costs if we lose?
What are the genuine weaknesses in my case?
Walk away if you hear
No interest in the scene. Position and lighting are the case. A citation treated as a verdict. What a Move Over violation proves in a civil claim depends entirely on the state. No urgency on records. Camera data overwrites in days. Silence on compensation. If you were working, the two claims interact and someone has to manage that. A promised number. Nobody can value this before the defendants and the scene facts are established.
How we vet every lawyer
We do not connect people with just anyone. Before we do, the attorney has to clear a checklist built for roadside and commercial vehicle cases. Every one of these has to be true.
Active, discipline-free license
Verified good standing with the state bar, with no unresolved discipline on record.
Roadside and commercial experience
A documented record in claims involving stopped vehicles, incident scenes and the companies that operate them.
Moves fast on perishable records
Dispatch logs and camera data demanded in the first days, while they still exist.
Clear contingency terms
Fees and case costs put in writing up front, so you know exactly how it works before signing.
Tell us what happened and we will only match you when a case genuinely fits.
Go deeper
Where to read next: the mechanics of a commercial claim, and what actually moves the final figure.
MVA Lawyer Network is a nationwide guide. Wherever the collision happened, we can connect you with an independent attorney licensed in that state.
Northeast Southeast Midwest Southwest West Coast Mountain West Gulf States Interstate corridors
Move Over laws are state law and they are not uniform. Whether yours covers tow trucks, what penalty attaches, whether breaching it proves negligence in a civil claim, how a workers compensation claim interacts with a claim against the driver, and the filing deadline known as the statute of limitations are all decided locally. You can start a free case review and a local, state-licensed attorney will sort this out at no cost to you.
Sources and authorities
Every figure on this page links to the document we read to get it. Where sources disagree, we say so rather than choosing.
Move Over law coverage
United States Government Accountability Office, Roadside Safety: DOT Should Update Public Awareness Materials on Move Over Laws. Source of the coverage counts in section 04 and the chart: all 51 jurisdictions cover first responder vehicles, 48 also cover tow trucks, and 42 cover highway maintenance or construction. The report counts 51 because it includes the District of Columbia alongside the 50 states. GAO.
Roadside crash and fatality figures
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Move Over Safety. Source of the 2024 figures in section 02: about 33,000 crashes along road shoulders, of which 578 were deadly. Also the source for the list of additional vehicle types some states have added to their Move Over laws. NHTSA.
Colorado Department of Transportation, reporting Emergency Responder Safety Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures. Source of the statement in section 02 that nearly 350 people a year are struck and killed while outside a disabled vehicle, and of the occupational death rate comparison for towing. CDOT.
Peer-reviewed research
Move-over Laws and Incident Response Personnel Safety in the USA, Journal of Road Safety. Source of the 2023 breakdown in section 05, of the observation that statutory protection varies significantly between states, and of the Indiana example used in sections 04 and 10. Journal of Road Safety.
Where the sources disagree. A towing trade association is widely quoted as saying a towing technician dies roughly every six days, which would be around sixty a year. The Emergency Responder Safety Institute counted twenty tow operators killed in struck-by incidents in 2023. Those two numbers almost certainly measure different things, one probably covering all workplace deaths in the industry and the other only responders struck at incident scenes, but we have not been able to confirm the definitions. Rather than pick the larger number, we have used the one whose scope we can describe and flagged the discrepancy here.
What we have left out. Derived comparisons circulating in the motoring press, such as odds ratios against being struck by lightning, are not used. Nor is a 2015 news report naming particular states as lacking tow operator protection, because Move Over statutes are amended frequently and a nearly decade-old list is not a safe basis for telling anyone what their state requires today. Where this page names a state, a current federal or peer-reviewed source named it first.
Our editorial standards
How we keep this guide accurate and worth trusting.
01
Primary sources, linked
Every figure on this page links to the federal, state or peer-reviewed document we read to get it.
02
Disagreement is disclosed
Where two sources give very different numbers, we show both and explain why we used one.
03
Editorial, not legal advice
This is general information to help you make decisions, not advice about a specific case in a specific state.
04
Honest about how we operate
We are an independent referral service, not a law firm, and we may be paid a referral fee by the attorney if you hire through us.
Michael Mangione Verified editor
Legal Research Editor · Founder, The Mangione Group, Inc.
MVA Lawyer Network is edited by Michael Mangione, who has spent more than twelve years working inside contingency-based law firms, building intake departments, designing qualification frameworks, and studying how claims are screened and pursued from the first call through resolution. He built this site to turn dense regulatory material into guidance people can actually use, then connect them with a lawyer worth their time. Michael is not a practicing attorney and does not give legal advice. Sources are linked so readers can check the current position themselves.
General information, not legal advice. Move Over laws and their effect on a civil claim differ by state, so talk to a licensed attorney about your own situation.
What is a Move Over law?
A state law requiring drivers approaching a stopped vehicle with warning lights to change lanes where it is safe, or to slow down, or both. Every state and the District of Columbia has one. Federal auditors found all 51 jurisdictions cover first responder vehicles and 48 also cover tow trucks, so what the law requires around a tow truck genuinely depends on where you are.
Does the Move Over law protect tow truck operators everywhere?
Not everywhere. The Government Accountability Office found that 48 of 51 jurisdictions extend Move Over protection to tow trucks, which means a small number do not. Even where tow trucks are covered, the penalties can differ from those for first responders. Indiana, for example, treats injuring someone affiliated with an authorized emergency vehicle as a felony but does not extend that enhanced protection to tow truck drivers.
If the other driver got a ticket, does that mean I win?
No, though it helps. Whether breaking a safety statute proves negligence in your civil claim is a question of state law. Some states treat it as establishing negligence directly. Others treat it as evidence a jury weighs with everything else. A citation is worth having and worth asking about at the scene, but it is a starting point rather than an outcome.
I was the tow operator and got hurt at work. What are my options?
Potentially two separate claims: workers compensation through your employer, and a claim against the driver who struck you. They run on different timetables and they interact, including in what the compensation insurer may recover out of any settlement. States handle that interaction differently. Getting the sequence right matters, so raise both in the first conversation with a lawyer rather than pursuing one and mentioning the other later.
How dangerous is it really at the roadside?
Federal figures record about 33,000 crashes along road shoulders in 2024, of which 578 were fatal. A peer-reviewed review, using Emergency Responder Safety Institute data, records 45 incident responders killed by struck-by incidents in 2023, of whom 20 were tow operators, the largest single group. Colorado's transportation department reports that nearly 350 people a year are struck and killed while outside a disabled vehicle.
I broke down and was hit standing by my car. Do I have a claim?
Very possibly. Some states extend Move Over protection to disabled vehicles as well as to responders, and in any event the passing driver owes ordinary care. What matters is where you were standing, what warning was showing, whether hazard lights or triangles were out, and how long you had been there. Shared fault rules in your state may reduce recovery if your own positioning contributed, which is why the scene detail matters so much.
What if the car being towed came loose?
Then the case looks much more like an ordinary commercial vehicle claim, and the towing company is the obvious defendant. The questions become how the vehicle was attached, whether safety chains were used, who performed the hookup and whether the vehicle was suitable to be towed that way at all. The attachment hardware is physical evidence and it goes straight back into service, so preserving it is urgent.
Who else might be liable besides the driver?
Depending on the facts: the towing company for how the scene was set up or the load secured, a motor club or insurer that dispatched the call, a public agency that ordered the tow, or another company whose vehicle contributed. Identifying everyone early matters because notice deadlines against public bodies can be far shorter than the ordinary filing deadline.
What is the single most useful piece of evidence?
Usually the dispatch and call log. It timestamps when the call came in, which unit was assigned, when it arrived and when it cleared, and it is generated automatically rather than recalled later. After that, scene photographs showing the truck's position and lighting. Both are more useful than witness recollection, and both are easier to obtain in the first two weeks than after several months.
How quickly do I need to act?
Faster than on most claims. The scene is cleared within the hour, camera and telematics data often overwrite on a cycle measured in days, and if a public agency ordered the tow a short notice deadline may apply. The statute of limitations is commonly two years depending on your state, but almost everything useful will have gone long before that.
Is a tow truck a commercial vehicle for legal purposes?
It depends on the vehicle and the operation, and it is worth having a lawyer establish rather than assuming either way. What is more consistently useful in these claims is the towing company's own records and the scene evidence, because most tow truck cases turn on what was happening at the roadside rather than on which federal regime applied to the vehicle.
What does a lawyer cost?
These cases are handled on a contingency fee, commonly 33 to 40 percent of what is recovered, set out in the written agreement. You pay nothing up front and no hourly rate, and the firm advances case costs. Ask what happens to those advanced costs if the case is lost, and if you were injured at work, ask specifically how the fee works where a workers compensation insurer has a claim on part of the recovery.
Is what I tell you private?
Yes. What you share in a case review is kept private and is used only to match you with an attorney who fits your situation. One distinction is worth understanding: true legal confidentiality, called attorney-client privilege, only attaches once you actually have an attorney-client relationship with a lawyer. Submitting a form to a referral service is not the same thing. If that matters to you, raise it directly with the attorney.
What does it cost to use MVA Lawyer Network?
Nothing. We are a free, independent referral service, not a law firm, and we do not give legal advice. Requesting a case review costs you nothing and puts you under no obligation. When a situation fits, we connect you with an independent tow truck accident lawyer who reviews it directly, and we may be paid a referral fee by that attorney. That fee does not add anything on top of their contingency percentage. You can read more about how we operate.
The scene decides these cases, and it is cleared within the hour.
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