Everybody has some idea what to do in the first minute after a crash. Check on people, call 911, trade information. Almost nobody knows what happens in minute twenty, when the ambulance is gone and a wrecker is idling behind your car and somebody is asking where you want it taken. That is the part we get asked about after the fact, usually by people who are annoyed at how it went.

So here is that part, written down before you need it.

The first few minutes

People before property. Get everyone out of traffic if the car is drivable and the shoulder is safe, or stay belted inside with hazards on if it is not. On A1A or I-95 the ditch beats the shoulder. Call 911 even for a minor one: Florida wants a report for injuries or real damage, and your insurer will want that report number regardless. Then leave the vehicles alone. Moving a car before a trooper sees it costs you the picture of what happened.

Who actually picks the tow company

Most of the time, you do. That surprises people. A wrecker showing up on its own does not mean it has the job, and a trooper asking who you want called is a real question, not a formality. If you have a company in mind, say the name. If you have nobody in mind, they will pull from the rotation list, and that truck is a fine truck, but it is not your only option.

The exception is real: when the vehicle is blocking travel lanes, leaking fluid, or otherwise a hazard, FHP or the sheriff can order the scene cleared right now, and the rotation wrecker takes it. That is not somebody working an angle. It is a road that has to open. If that happens, your car goes where that operator takes it and you get it back from there, which is a good reason to know the next few sections.

Photograph it before it moves

Once the car is on a deck, the scene is gone forever. Spend three minutes with your phone. Wide shots from four corners so the whole layout is visible, including lane lines, the traffic light, the skid marks, and where each car came to rest. Then close-ups of every damaged panel on both vehicles. Then the other driver’s plate, their insurance card, and their license if they will hold it up.

Two more that people forget. Photograph any debris field, because where the glass and plastic landed says a lot about impact point. And photograph your own dash and odometer, which timestamps mileage and shows which warning lights came on. It takes almost no time and it settles arguments weeks later.

Where the car should go

This is the choice that quietly costs people weeks. You have three realistic destinations: a body shop, your own driveway, or a storage yard.

The shop is usually right. If you already know where you want the repair done, tell the driver that address and the car goes straight there. It sits somewhere with a roof and a lift instead of accruing daily storage, and the shop can start working the claim the moment the adjuster’s paperwork comes through.

Your driveway works if the damage is cosmetic and the car is not leaking. It is free and it keeps your options open.

A storage yard is the default when nobody makes a decision, and it is the expensive default. Every day it sits, it costs, and a second tow to the shop is coming later anyway. If your car did end up in a yard because the scene had to be cleared, get it moved out quickly. Call us and we will handle the pull and the transfer to your shop.

Same thinking applies countywide, including accident and collision towing in Titusville, where a crash on US 1 near the causeway is often cleared before anyone has thought about a destination.

Take your things out of the car

Assume you will not see the vehicle again for a while, and that getting into a closed yard on a Sunday is a hassle. Before it leaves, pull the garage door remote out of the visor. Get any prescription you take daily. Get the registration and insurance card from the glovebox, your sunglasses, your charger, the gate fob, the toll transponder, and anything in the trunk you would miss.

The one people forget under stress is the car seat. If the child was in the vehicle during the crash, the seat gets replaced rather than reused, but you still want it out so you have something to hand the insurer and so you are not driving home with nothing to buckle a kid into.

How the insurance handoff really goes

You call your insurer, or the other driver’s, and open a claim. An adjuster is assigned and either inspects the car where it sits or works from the shop’s photos. Then the adjuster’s paperwork comes back and the shop can order parts. Nothing moves before that document exists, which is why a car parked at a body shop gets fixed sooner than the identical car in a yard across town.

Keep the crash report number, the claim number, and the adjuster’s name in one note on your phone. When you call anybody about this car for the next month, those three things are what they will ask for. If you need towing paperwork for the claim, send the details to dispatch and we will get you a copy.

What a straight operator will and will not do

A legitimate tow operator asks where you want the car taken and writes it down. Tells you the price for the tow before hooking up. Gives you a receipt with a company name and address on it. Waits while you clear out your belongings. Answers plainly when you ask what yard he runs out of.

What we do not do is steer you. Nobody should be pushing a particular body shop at a crash scene, offering to handle your claim, or rushing you to sign anything while you are shaken up. If somebody is doing that on the roadside, say no and call your own company. Our trucks are hot pink and everybody in Brevard sees them; that only works if the story people tell about us is a good one.