Tow-truck driver Juergen “Yogi” Wasner was just finishing up some paperwork on Tuesday morning alongside Hwy 11, beacons on and pylons out, when he was smacked into by another vehicle.
So later he knew from whence he spoke at a public question-and-answer session on the need for motorists to know the rules of the road when passing emergency services workers, including tow-truck operators.
The information sessions at Parkland Mall and Bower Place Shopping Centre were organized by the Give Us Room to Work campaign, supported by police, fire-rescue, EMS, tow-truck companies and other roadside assistance vehicle operators in Alberta. The purpose of the campaign is to reduce the risk of injury and death to emergency services personnel when they work at scenes.
Labouring away on the shoulder of a highway is “one of the scariest parts of our job,” said Wasner, operations manager for Key Towing and Storage.
“He was definitely going too fast for the road conditions and lost control and struck the side of my tow truck,” Wasner said of the collision that caused mostly cosmetic damage and no injuries.
“If that would have happened five or 10 minutes earlier when we were out on the road (in person), the likelihood of someone getting run over is greater.”
Wasner said people don’t seem to know in which lane or how much they should slow down.
“A lot of times you see vehicles even in the far lanes are slowing down, and it causes a backlog of traffic or secondary accidents,” he said.
Red Deer City RCMP spokeswoman Const. Sabrina Grunow, also a member of the Give Us Room to Work committee, explained that drivers are required to slow down to 60 km/h or less in the lane adjacent to emergency vehicles that have lights flashing.
Motorists should also move as far away from the emergency scene as possible, including into the next lane if safe to do so, and be aware the vehicles ahead may have to stop unexpectedly, she said.
People should also refrain from rubbernecking.
“Everybody loves a good crash, unfortunately everybody looks, which can cause collisions as well,” said Grunow.
She pointed out that Bill 39, passed in 2005, doubles the fines for speeding where emergency services personnel are working.
A driver going 31 to 50 km/h in excess of posted speed limits, for example, can be fined up to $702.
mgauk@www.reddeeradvocate.com