so i had an alignment done today and i drove it home fine, i parked it, went to work and when i came back i decide to take her out for the evening, and as i was driving my front left tire came off, now i will note that i torque all my lug nuts to the correct torque spec, not over, not under. Also at the scene the officer and i checked the rears which were torqued down (i didn't have a torque wrench with me but they did not move under my pressure) while the front right was very loose and could easily be turned with my fingers. And i was wondering if certain alignment machines require you to loosen the lug nuts or if this was some freak accident, and if some alignment machines do require the loosening of lug nuts how should i go about this legally? An officer did show up and did make a case report, i was not ticketed but my left front fender is all messed up and my oil pan is pretty dinged up, but i don't think its leaking, but ill be checking tomorrow, I'm really just asking for some insight on how i should proceed from this point Thanks!

 

my advice take some pictures and the police report and go to the shop that did the work and complain
see how it goes

they most likely just forgot to tighten the lug nuts back up
sometimes they have to remove the wheel to tighten the tie rod locking nut after they've been adjusted