As some of you know after my family sold their farm my dad became a tow truck driver. Though summer can be busy, winter is an especially hectic time for tow truck drivers. This, however, isn't where my rant is about to go.
Now with any emergency vehicle, which includes tow trucks, people are supposed to slow down to 60 km/hr. However, quite often the only time this happens is if the police happen to also be out there and have their lights on it seems.
Recently my dad was out on a job and came home with a message to everyone who does slow down or pulls into the passing lane if able to, thank you. This thank you message, however, was followed with a very valid rant.
A semi, travelling down the highway, didn't slow down or pull into the other lane. This is not the first time my dad has complained of this; but, in this scenario he was hooking onto a trailer on the side of the road. Through swirling snow he saw the semi coming down the road. He ended up diving under the trailer just in time for the semi to barrel past him.
Now had he not dove under the trailer he would have been standing two feet from where the semi passed. And even if you're in a small vehicle passing a semi you can feel the vacuum of air the semi creates, pulling you towards it. So, had he been standing there next to the trailer instead of diving beneath it there would have been a chance he could have been pulled in and under the 18-wheeler.
This played out along Hwy 1, so the very least the semi could have done was pull into the passing lane. The best thing would have been to slow down and move to the passing lane. Not only should this be done for tow truck drivers, but emergency vehicles and even just people with their four-way flashers on.
He then encouraged people to stay in the warm indoors if possible because getting into an accident or even just stranded on the side of the road when the wind chill drops the temperature to nearly -50C it's not pleasant. It's dangerous. There is the risk of freezing to death if not properly prepared; but, I'm not sure if people always realize that once stranded in this dangerous situation calling a tow truck or needing emergency assistance from anyone puts their lives in danger.
However, the tow truck driver seems to be forgotten. People slow down for ambulances and the police, but barely pay attention to the tow truck's yellow flashing lights. On top of that if stranded people simply think to call the tow truck driver, they don't always realize that your decision to go out in this weather if you didn't have to will put that tow truck driver's life at risk too.
His message ended up being: "It's not a race, slow down. Think, what's going on around you? Try to see what's one or two miles ahead, not just the tail lights in front of you. It might save your life or someone else's."
Paying attention while driving is always important, but when it comes to winter increased diligence is needed as ice and swirling snow make driving that much more dangerous. Get off the cell phones, drive while alert and not tired, and take road conditions/weather into consideration before even embarking on your journey. If you don't need to go, maybe think about staying inside in the warmth of your home.
Be careful out there! Slow down and keep a vigilant eye out because humans weren't meant to travel so quickly, it's why you look out the window to the side and the ditch seems to blur by. So, doing everything in your power to make it the safest dangerous act people do every day is important. That is the safest for those in your vehicle, but also for those in the vehicles around you and the people on the side of the road.
