Alberta tow truck driver struck by vehicle, flown to hospital by STARS

A tow truck driver was seriously injured while changing a tire on the side of the road north of Camrose along Highway 833, south of Highway 617.

The three-vehicle crash happened on Sunday, Oct. 15, just before 5 p.m., according to an RCMP spokesperson.

RCMP said initial investigation reveals that a tow truck was pulled over while the operator was changing the tire of a stranded motorist when the tow truck was struck from behind by a third vehicle.

The tow truck driver was seriously injured and airlifted by STARS Air Ambulance to Edmonton.

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The tow truck driver is Cory Armstrong, his fiancée confirmed to Global News.

The 42-year-old man spoke to Global News from the hospital Monday.

“I could have died yesterday,” he said.

Armstrong said he was dispatched by AMA and pulled into the public easement on a rural driveway off Highway 833 to change a woman’s tire.

“As I’m in the middle of doing the removal of the cover for her spare tire, I heard a car go by real fast. So I turned to look and no sooner did I turn to look, another vehicle, obviously one I didn’t see or hear, hit my truck from the rear.

“My truck hit me, and next thing I know, I’m waking up underneath my truck with my rear tires of my flat deck — which is a 4,500-kilogram truck — on top of my legs.”

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Someone who works as a nurse arrived and was able to keep him calm while they called for help, Armstrong said.

“My lights were on on the top, my lights were on on my mirrors, my four-ways were on, my front lights were on.”

Armstrong said this is the second time in two years his truck has been hit by another vehicle.

“This has got to stop. People have got to learn that if they don’t slow down and move over, they’re going to cost somebody their life.

“It’s dangerous to not slow down and move over.”

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A gofundme page has been set up to support Armstrong through his recovery and rehabilitation.

He suffered four broken ribs, a broken right hip, damaged tissue on the femur and bruising on his left knee down to the calf, the gofundme page said.

The Towing and Recovery Association of Alberta said this kind of call is their “worst nightmare.”

They said Cory is an operator with Blacksmith Towing out of Camrose.

“It’s really gut-wrenching,” said Don Getschel, president of the Towing and Recovery Association. “The first thing I was thinking about is: is he OK? And after I determined how he was doing, it switches to: why? Why did this happen?

“It’s hard not to get emotional when you think about that. It could just as easily have been myself or any other tower in Alberta.

“It’s happening all too often,” Getschel said. “We made some pushes, we got blue lights, we were going to have the law changed and for whatever reason, the minister pulled back on that and now this has happened.”

Changes to Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act took effect Sept. 1, 2023. And, while they mean drivers have to slow down when passing all roadside workers, they apply only to the closest lane of traffic, not all lanes of traffic, which is what the province had previously said it was planning for.

2:01 Safety for roadside workers in Alberta

“I’m trying to wrap my head around it,” Getschel said. “He had his lights engaged. How did that truck get hit? How did it get hit so hard that this truck rolled over him? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“It’s frustrating,” Getschel added. “We should be able to go out and help stranded motorists without having to worry about getting injured or killed.

“We’ve been saying the same thing for the last 20 years. When they enacted the Traffic Safety Act, there were laws for tow trucks and roadside workers (and that) has now been extended this fall, which are all good things, but they’re not going to be helpful unless people actually slow down.

“We’ve been asking the government for an enforcement campaign and we haven’t gotten one.”

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The driver of the vehicle that hit the tow truck was taken to hospital with minor injuries, RCMP said.

RCMP don’t believe drugs and alcohol were factors.