President's Message


Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO

Move over and no one gets injured

You’re stranded on I-25, or I-70, or SH 119, and AAA Colorado sends a tow truck to your location. The driver steps out of his vehicle, looks over his shoulder, and smiles as he approaches you. Wearing a bright yellow vest, he sets out several cones to create space in which to work safely. Suddenly another motorist drives at high speed over the cones, slams the brakes, and collides with the tow-truck driver, sending him into the air. Horrified, you call 911, and emergency workers arrive, looking over their shoulders...

This story isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. Tow-truck drivers and emergency workers risk their lives every time they pull alongside or behind a vehicle and step out onto the road. In late July, Alan Dilley, 41, a tow-truck driver, died after a motorist struck him as he helped emergency workers in Arvada. Police soon arrested a 28-year-old Lakewood man. Prosecutors charged him with nine crimes.

In order to help protect emergency workers, AAA Colorado lobbied hard for a “move over” law, requiring motorists to change lanes or slow down as they approach stationary emergency vehicles. The Colorado Legislature passed the bill, and Gov. Bill Owens signed it into law, in 2005. But six years later, many Colorado drivers seem to be no more likely to slow down or change lanes.

We spoke recently with Kris Love, a tow-truck driver for Pacesetter Roadside Assistance, Inc., AAA Colorado’s emergency roadside assistance service available in metro Denver.

Love says he often parks his 15,500-pound truck behind a AAA member’s stranded vehicle as a precaution.

“People will zip over as they approach the cones that I’ve placed on the road, and the cars right behind them don’t see my truck or the cones,” he says. “If they hit anyone, I want them to hit my truck, not the member’s vehicle.”

Inattention to road conditions and emergency vehicles is so common, Love says, that he takes immediate action to protect himself and the AAA member. “If they hit one of my cones and drag it down the road, I’ll shut down the entire lane,” he says, something he’d rather not do because it snarls traffic.

Colorado’s move over law applies to roadside assistance providers, Colorado Department of Transportation crews, ambulance, fire and police vehicles. Remember the law, and the people it protects, the next time you approach an emergency vehicle. Safely switch lanes or reduce your speed.

Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO

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