Group reminds public that tow truck drivers are covered under "Slow Down, Move Over" law
Just Tuesday morning, Michigan tow truck operator Nader Chehadi was working on a school bus when he was hit and killed by a passing SUV.
It's just another testament to the dangers of a first responder's job.
“We've also lost tow operator Scott boles of Killeen, Officer Charles Whites of the Round Rock Police Department,” said Tasha Mora, co-owner of A&A Wrecker and Recovery.
The “Slow Down, Move Over” law requires drivers to change into the next lane when passing a first responder on the road, if traffic allows and slow down to 20 miles per hour under the speed limit.
“Too many motorists do not know what's considered a first responder, who's protected under the law. Towers are protected under the law,” said Mora.
Tasha Mora has a family in the towing business.
She is one of the many who came out Friday morning for American Towman's Spirit Ride.
It's a traveling memorial, with a procession and hand built casket, symbolic for the first responders who lost their lives. “Although this law has been on the books for some time now, we still have motorists who violate the law,” said Mora.
“We call out to all motorists, give us room to work. Would any person work at a desk where his or her back is at the edge of a cliff with no safety net?” said Mike Corbin, American Towman Spirit Ride Ambassador.
During the ceremony, there was a song, serving as a reflection of daily life for emergency workers. Then the poem called “The Spirits Among Us,” read by a tow truck operator.
“You cannot see the spirit neither can you see the soul but yet you see it. You see it in one's rush to an unsafe scene,” said Hit Bhatpuria with Statewide Towing.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 71 percent of Americans don’t even know about the Move Over law. Tasha Mora hopes the Spirit Ride can change that, one city at a time.