A tow truck operator says he’s lucky to be alive after almost being struck by a car while responding to a crash along a busy Nova Scotia highway.
He’s speaking out, he says, because he believes drivers who don’t follow Slow Down, Move Over legislation when passing emergency responders could have deadly consequences.
As a tow truck operator, Jason Beaton is always aware of the dangers of the job.
“My head is always on a swivel. I’m always watching and listening. Always,” said Jason Beaton.
Those senses paid off on Thursday morning when he was called to Highway 102 just outside Truro. Beaton was assisting a driver whose vehicle had slid off the road.
“That particular section of road, when it rains we usually get a couple of calls a day,” he explained. “It was raining that morning, and (…) we call it the swamp because everything just lands there.”
A mere 10 minutes after arriving at the scene, another vehicle lost control.
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“I walked back around the front of the truck — and I got around the front and I heard the screeching and sliding of tires and I’m going, ‘Uh, oh,’” recalled Beaton. “And then two seconds later, a big ol’ smash.”
Luckily, Beaton wasn’t injured, but he was shaken. The tow truck had been off the road and parked at an emergency crossover point when it was struck. Photos of the scene show the damaged truck with the words “slow down, move over, it’s the law” emblazoned on the back window.
“We fear for our lives every time we have to get out on the highway,” he said.
According to provincial law, drivers must slow down to 60 km/h, or obey the speed limit if it’s lower than 60 km/h, if they see an emergency vehicle pulled over with its lights flashing. In situations where the road has two or more lanes in the same direction, vehicles must also move into another lane away from the stopped emergency vehicle. While the law initially only covered emergency vehicles such as police and ambulances, it was later updated to include tow trucks.
Beaton’s colleague, Andrew Peterson, says it’s important that people realize tow trucks fall under the same legislation. Peterson could have been the one driving the truck that fateful Thursday morning, but Beaton had borrowed it.
“People don’t respect our yellow flashing lights like they do the blue or the red. If we have police or fire on scene with us, the results are way better,” said Peterson.
Peterson wants to especially bring light to the law because of a 2017 crash in New Brunswick that claimed the life of RCMP Const. Francis (Frank) Deschenes. The officer had stopped to help change a tire on the highway near Memramcook, N.B. when a utility van collided with his police car and the SUV he was working on.
“I knew him personally. He was a local officer out of Bible Hill, at one point,” said Peterson. “And so really this whole slow down, move over thing really hit home for me.”
A spokesperson with Nova Scotia RCMP says the driver was not fined under the Slow Down, Move Over law, but was instead ticketed for driving too fast for the conditions.
Regardless, Beaton says the accident serves as a good reminder to be mindful of emergency personnel on highways. He’s speaking out, he adds, because he wants to make sure everyone returns home safe.
“We don’t want to have a funeral procession for another driver because somebody was being inattentive or selfish.”
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