Following the deaths of two AAA tow providers, The Auto Club Group is raising awareness of the dangers emergency responders face on the roadside and how critical it is that drivers follow move-over laws.
Glenn Ewing, 32, was killed July 4 near Cincinnati, OH, while placing a disabled vehicle on the back of a flatbed on the side of the road. He leaves behind a fiancée and two children. Only three weeks later, 30-year-old David Meyer was assisting a driver on the left-hand shoulder in Castle Rock, CO, when he was also struck and killed.
As of August of this year, 14 tow providers have been killed while helping others at the roadside in 2021. Legislation is currently pending in the Wisconsin State Senate that would extend the protections currently provided to road maintenance and construction crews to emergency responders – including tow truck drivers. The bill would double the fines for certain traffic violations committed when such crews are on scene, and make a motorist who injures a roadside responder while committing a traffic violation subject to a fine of up to $10,000 and nine months in prison.
