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Tow truck workers get into a mess with a Merc
David Williams, Motoring Editor30 Apr 2008
It's the moment every towaway worker - and vehicle owner - dreads.
Right in the middle of being hoisted on to the truck, something goes wrong with the delicate operation.
The front end of the car plunges and it is left dangling inches above the ground.
And this is no old banger - it's a £55,000 Mercedes S-Class.
The drama took place in London Road, Morden. Contractors from Transport for London were called to the scene by a parking attendant who spotted an illegally parked car during rush-hour.
The towaway team, in dayglo vests, arrived minutes later and began what appeared to be a routine operation - before it all went horribly wrong.
The silver Mercedes was feet above the ground when the vehicle overbalancedand it nosedived towards the road. As it hung in mid-air and frantic workers tried to find out what had gone wrong, a crowd gathered to watch the spectacle - and traffic piled up behind the obstruction.
Peter Sutton, who was passing by, said: "They didn't have a clue what to do - it was just hanging there. Everyone was waiting to see if it would slip out of the hoist and crash down altogether.
"Because of the crazy angle of the car they couldn't put it on the tow-truck without damaging it. But they couldn't put it on the road either in case it crashed down."
Half an hour later, a second tow-truck arrived, sparking heated debate between the two crews. "By now there was chaos on the roads," said Mr Sutton. "These guys are meant to prevent congestion but they were blocking off an entire lane. There was gridlock and lots of annoyed drivers. No one could believe it."
After an hour the towaway teams managed to nudge the Mercedes upright by resting its underside on one of their trucks as the hoists were hastily readjusted. "After all that they didn't even take it away - they just put it back where it was parked in the first place," said Mr Sutton. "There was no visible damage but who knows what happened under the bonnet? It's likely the oil and petrol would have run into the air filters - cars aren't meant to be dangled like that." A TfL spokesman said: "Regretfully, operator error caused the vehicle load to overbalance. The car was returned, undamaged, to its owner at the scene and the operator concerned has undergone retraining."
Reader views (9)
I was in London last year taking a client to a concrete plant. A worker had hurt his foot and the ambulance was there loading the chap up. Later we left and noticed a cooler in the middle of the road. We stopped and checked and it. The cooler had ice and a man's big toe in it. Of course we returned to the shack to ask where the injured man had been taken but the manager did not know. He suggested we call the dispatcher. She also did not know but at lease she was helpful. She told us to just call a toe truck!
- E. Zach Lee, Memphis, USA, 01/05/2008 09:53
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That's a relatively standard E-Class worth 35K Max, I used to own one, so take it from me.
By the way, get red Ken out!
- Mr B. I. G. Wet-Nurse., Hempstead, 30/04/2008 21:17
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It's "unobstructively", not "non-destructively".
If you must edit my comments you could at least do so literately.
- Adrian Short, Sutton, 30/04/2008 15:32
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The training given was probably done in a play group with dinky trucks! Thank goodness it was not my car.
- V Tan, London, 30/04/2008 15:21
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Typical. TfL really are a bunch of numbskulls.
- Vs, London, 30/04/2008 15:16
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And if "Operator Error" and TfL's rapacious anti-car greed has resulted in damage to the car, will they be paying for any repairs and compensation?
Whereas any damage to "public (state) property" is dealt with in a draconian and heavy-handed manner an respect for our private property has gone out of the window.
We are treated with contempt.
Regardless of the "illegality" of the parking, should there be any damage, the operator has a duty of care and I hope they are sued within an inch of insolvency.
It is time for the balance of responsibility and respect to be restored.
The first stage is, in my opinion to ditch Stalinist Livingstone.
- Jeremy Zeid, Harrow, England, 30/04/2008 14:19
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While this was obviously an error, a bigger concern is that it's TfL's policy to routinely park their towaway trucks in the middle of lanes of moving traffic to lift offending vehicles parked safely and non-destructively in parking and loading bays.
- Adrian Short, Sutton, 30/04/2008 13:57
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Thats an E-Class, not an S.
- Ls, London, UK, 30/04/2008 12:51
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I love the final TfL comment about "operator error" and the operator sent for "retraining". Great language. Very Stalinist. Hides a multitude of sins.
- Matthew, London, 30/04/2008 12:25
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