CALGARY – Alberta tow truck drivers are sounding the alarm, fed up with drivers who refuse to slow down when passing an accident.
On Monday a Calgary operator was hit while responding to a crash.
Global News also received a call from a woman who said she was forced to wait 40 minutes to exit her vehicle on Deerfoot Trail, despite a tow truck showing up at the scene in just 10 minutes.
“At one point, I wanted to crawl out the sunroof and start yelling at the drivers as they were speeding past us,” said Leah Herle.
Police had to shut down the lane before the tow truck driver could get to work.
Tow Canada reports that each year, 60 to 80 tow operators are killed on North American roads. Operators in Calgary said local drivers are just as reckless.
“We put Calgary drivers to the test, set up a situation with our own vehicle that would have given them an opportunity to either slow down or change lanes. Most often – they did not,” said Jeff Hribnack with City Wide Towing.
He said many drivers didn’t change lanes despite ample opportunity.
“Most cases, it doesn’t take long to hook up a vehicle and get in and out, but when you have the perfect storm of people not moving over and drivers not being aware…that’s when you have an incident.”
Alberta Mounties said they’re focused on improving safety for tow truck operators with increased patrols and legislation that means stiffer penalties for offenders.
WATCH ABOVE: Police will be stepping up enforcement of “speed pass” laws this long weekend.
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