Tow truck drivers who remove cars on LI parkways are supposed to clean up after the accident. This was a recent accident on the Wantagh Parkway.
Photo by Harry Loud
Reader Nick Mattera wrote about tow trucks who are called to the scene of an accident but don’t clean up the debris.
“This debris often leads to other accident or vehicle damage by either trying to avoid the left behind debris or running over it with your own vehicle – not to mention the roads look terrible with all this garbage left behind,” he wrote.
Mattera offers a solution: “Enforce a law or ordinance that would require any tow truck responding to an accident scene to remove ALL accident related debris. A tow truck should be required to carry a push broom, a garbage pail and a shovel. A quick sweep and picking up all the debris would help to keep the roads a lot safer and a bit cleaner. Even if the cost of the driver’s time needed to be charged back to the insurance company of the vehicle owner it’s still worth it – some sort of surcharge I think would be fine.
“Police, I believe use a particular list when requesting a tow truck to an accident scene – these tow truck operators should be required to comply with a clean-up regulation or be fined. Simply moving debris out of the way, putting garbage and accident debris on the median or shoulder, doesn’t help anyone.”
We talked to NYS Department of Transportation spokeswoman Eileen Peters, who said that tow truck owners contracted with the state to work on the state parkways (Northern and Southern State, Meadowbrook Parkway, etc.) are required to clean up the debris. But if they miss parts and pieces, the state’s own crew does the job and the car owner’s insurance company is charged for the cleanup.
On the Long Island Expressway (495) and Sunrise Highway, each local municipality has jurisdiction and contracts with tow-truck operators who are called by county police officers. Regulations and obligations may vary from town-to-town, but tow truck operators, in general, are supposed to clean up the debris. Police are supposed to oversee whether the accident site is safe for traffic.
