(NOTE: all pictures and content Copyright 1994 – 2015 Totman Enterprises. Absolutely no copying or use without express WRITTEN consent of Totman Enterprises.)

It was a very icy (black ice) morning when I got a call to go out to a friend’s house where reportedly someone had crashed through her wooden fence and sailed across her lawn before coming to a stop.

As you can see from the images, the fence was not forgiving to the car that crashed through it – at least that’s what we originally thought. The vehicle ended up being a total loss with the alternator, radiator, radiator support and fender taken out.

Was one of the darndest things I ever saw, that fencepost went clear through the vehicle, through the motor – not BY it – THROUGH IT! –  and came out the opposite side of the grill.  Fortunately no one was injured – except the vehicle! 🙂

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(NOTE: all pictures and content Copyright 1994 – 2015 Totman Enterprises. Absolutely no copying or use without express WRITTEN consent of Totman Enterprises.)

(Sorry no pics available for this one.)

Late one night I was called out to change a tire by an auto club. I drove all the way out there at 1:30 or 2:00 am. Got there and could not find the car. Looked all over. Called the auto club and went back to the base.

No sooner did I get home and the auto club called back saying the customer was at the location I’d just been to. So I went back and sure enough, right where I’d parked previously to call the auto club, here’s the vehicle!

I pulled up to the car, got out and talked to the woman who was driving. There were two women and a man in the vehicle, women in the front, man in the back.

[...]

Upon pulling up on the scene, to our surprise, the vehicle well into the ditch was a hearse. It had plowed through the snowbank, not gone over it, so was good and stuck.

This head on collision clearly outlines why people should NOT be texting and driving. Initially they were not sure if the texting driver would survive, but he did. Fortunately for him, the other driver was not badly injured, but that is rarely the case.

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(originally published on waldo.villagesoup.com Feb 23, 2011)

There have been several stories across the Maine press recently about Maine’s “Move Over” law, so I thought I would add a personal perspective from someone who can “walk the talk” so to speak. The law was originally created to protect police and other emergency and roadside personnel from inattentive drivers. It is only in the last few years that this law (Title 29-A §2054) was expanded to cover tow truck drivers, and for good reason.

Tow truck operators are some of those people who are willing to go out in any kind of weather, any time of day or night, to help YOU when you need it. When you get a flat tire, run out of gas, lock yourself out of your car, slide into a ditch, get stuck on flat ground on ice or worse, if you crash your car, THEY are out there making sure [...]

(NOTE: all pictures and content Copyright 1994 – 2024 Totman Enterprises. Absolutely no copying or use without express WRITTEN consent of Totman Enterprises.)

This guy was driving down the road, coming around a sharp bend on a “foggy” night (he thinks it was foggy anyway) at a high rate of speed and failed to negotiate a 90-degree corner completely and went straight. Went straight over the guy’s lawn (airborne as he came off the road), accelerated as he landed, tore up the guy’s lawn, took out an 8″ apple tree, sent the tree flying over 100 feet, then jumped the septic system, went through the woods between two trees just barely wide enough to fit the vehicle, crushing in both sides of the vehicle, causing the car to start to spin as he flew over a 4-foot wall, while taking out several good-sized trees as he continued through the woods and landed about 20 feet [...]

Totman’s was featured in an article in the industry publication “Towing & Recovery Footnotes” in the January 2011 edition!

An article written by Allan T. Duffin discusses how innovations in towing equipment and technology help us do our job more efficiently.

You can read the story online at http://www.flashedition.com/publication/?i=56063 – go to page 6 for the story. If you can’t read it online drop us an email at susan@totmans.com and we’ll get you a copy.

(You will need Adobe Flashplayer to read this story – it is available athttp://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and is a free program. Most of today’s computers come with it pre-installed, but you can get the latest version at the above link.)

(NOTE: all pictures and content Copyright 1994 – 2015 Totman Enterprises. Absolutely no copying or use without express WRITTEN consent of Totman Enterprises.)

An unusual amount of rain dumped on eastern Maine last week, resulting in accidents and flash flooding around the State. This actually was a wooden bridge that had just been crossed by a pickup and was followed by the Focus, thinking that the bridge was just slightly under the top of the water, when in fact it had collapsed. It doesn’t look like too much water in the pics, but the car was actually submerged enough for water to be flowing over the seats when we got there.

Turned out to be a rental car – OOPS. Good thing for insurance, huh?

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