Cars, trucks, vans and RVs

Car and truck biohazard cleanup in San Jose

A vehicle is a small, padded, sealed box. Fluids get into seat foam, carpet and vents quickly, and a detail shop is not equipped for that.

Call (669) 274-0805

Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

A worker in a white coverall and gloves cleaning the back seat of a gray sedan in a carport.

First, find out who has the vehicle

After a crash or a crime, the vehicle may have been towed to a police yard or a tow company's lot. Find out where it is, and whether it has been released, before you arrange anything. If San Jose police had it towed, the report number speeds up every call; the department's vehicle records desk is on 408-277-4263.

If an insurer is involved, speak to them before work begins. Where the damage is severe an insurer may decide the vehicle is a total loss, and cleaning it would then be money wasted.

What the work involves

Seats often have to come out so the foam and the floor under them can be reached. Carpet and its backing are checked and, if soaked, cut away. Seat belts, door pockets, the headliner and the vents are cleaned or replaced. Hard surfaces are disinfected. Whatever is removed leaves as sealed, regulated waste.

Some cleanup companies come to a driveway, a garage or a tow yard. Others need the vehicle brought to them. Ask which, and whether the vehicle may be driven in the meantime. Usually it should not be.

Who may pay

After a crime

California's Victim Compensation Board names vehicles alongside homes. It can reimburse reasonable clean-up costs when the crime happened in a residence or a vehicle, provided a state-registered trauma scene company did the work. It pays for removing biohazards, not for new seats or bodywork.

After an accident or a medical emergency

This is one for your auto insurer. Comprehensive cover sometimes applies; a liability-only policy generally does not extend to your own vehicle. Ask before you authorize the work.

Two things people ask

Can a regular car detailer do this?

A detailer cleans what can be seen and reached. Blood in seat foam or under carpet is out of reach unless the interior is taken apart, and a detail shop has no way to ship regulated waste.

What about a work truck or a company van?

The same companies handle them. An employer should not ask a driver or a yard hand to clean blood out of a vehicle: federal bloodborne pathogen rules cover workers who may be exposed.