rreschran

If you can get away from your workplace and attend a FREE national TIMs course, not the on-line version at the live-course is far better. I highly recommend finding a course instructed by Grady Carrick, a retired career highway patrol from Florida. All towers who serving highway patrol should attend this course. R.

God Bless the towers working in the eye of the storm. There will be water and rain from all directions; please be safe to include lightening, downed power wires and trees that drop unexpectedly. Be safe. You're all heros .. but you already know that. R.

How tragic ... Christine and I send our prayers from Alpine, CA. R.

Rest in Peace Dave ... from Christine and Randall Resch, American Towman Magazine. Thank you for your many contributions to the towing and recovery industry across the great pond. R&C

Thanks Ron for chiming in. I like Ron's term that suggests, "brainstorming". I believe that comment to be true, Ron said, "To do nothing at all, only meaning nothing will ever change and the names on the wall will grow." This begins within the towing and recovery industry that demands a culture change in the way towers work on highway shoulders by getting off the white-line. We can't teach that enough, especially confirming that what Bob wrote in his comments above (thanks Bob for your comments that re-affirm the continued need for safety). The safety instruction is there, but towers AREN'T heeding the comments of safety changes because of too much complacency, too much macho, or plain ignorance; believing that vests, colored lights, cones, flares, cops on scene and SDMO laws are a solid sense of security. Every tower who works the highway should have never-ending awareness and a bit of, "being scared", when they go boots to the ground. I personally believe the direction this all needs to go is towards law enforcement, blocker trucks, continued public education and with the help of towing associations and insurance companies. Thank you Gents for your comments. FACT: This problem is not going away. Please keep these comments coming and let's work together (and at least) try to come up with some solutions? Wouldn't you agree? R

If there's one thing I've learned in all these years of love and war ... if nothing's challenged ... nothing changes. OK ... So, let's agree to disagree. This where it change begins by NOT being politically correct or hiding our head's in the sand. It's about hundred's of tow operators killed in the line-of-duty; literally hundreds. I don't think any family of a deceased tower wouldn't want to help fight this epidemic; if it would only help save another tower's life to where their loved one's life wasn't in-vain. Is it not proper to work in a positive manner to at least try and find a solution? Is there no value in strength in numbers? So, if this topic is insensitive, Ron Parish, would you please direct this narrative to a location that hides the sensitivity from crying eyes and let's continue on from there. Too many people want to hide behind the issues, and I'm confident that GoodMichael and mooresbp have many more ideas and opinions on this topic. I also know there are other strong voices of this industry with much to say, but won't get involved. If that's the case, then we (the industry) are simply giving up on our own; but somehow overwhelmingly gives a rats-ass MORE about a smart-mouthed tower who's verbal and disrespectful to a customer ... and that goes viral? Where are your priorities? Gimme a break. I'd hate to see the untimely loss of another tower be swept under the proverbial carpet like everything else. Common men ... step up. Ron ... what say ye? R.

GoodMichael shares a well-thought, well-written, lucid response to this latest fatality. His comments are spot-on target. Is it OK to keep conducting business with our heads in the sand? Bitch about insurance? But, what's it cost to pay for tow operators killed in the line-of-duty, over and over and over again? What is it doing to our industry? I believe if the industry doesn't step-up, the Wall of the Fallen, will need to purchase a larger plot of land just to make room to bear the numbers of tow operator fatalities that WILL happen in the future. And, just as a matter of education, did you know that as many as 300-tow operators have been killed in loading, recovering, and/or tire change activities since 1954. The numbers don't lie. I'd personally like to hear from those, "industry leaders", as to what you have to say one the subject of tow operator fatality? In a time of desperate needs, what are our associations, motor clubs and insurance companies doing to recognize this problem that does something proactive to help save the lives of America's tow operators? If you're reading this newest thread; you're reading the HOTTEST topic facing the towing and recovery industry.To whit; I make an open challenge for you to respond to these issues. R

Note: In another news account CHP, the tow operator may have been changing a flat tire rather than loading. Details are few. R.

A California tow truck operator was killed in Compton, just after midnight while in process of loading a disabled Mercedes onto a carrier. CHP state this was a hit & run collision and little details are known nearly 12-hours later. This fatal is less than 30-days after California tow operator Jon Israel, of StageCoach Towing was struck and killed by a semi. The irony here is; we just did Spirit Ride through these parts that rode the entire west coast with their message of Slow-Down Move-Over. News video shows the carrier had its amber emergency lights on as well as the white-lights to the rear. I also noted that the carrier was legally parked inside the white-line perhaps three to four feet offering the tower room to work, but none the less on the traffic-side. The operator's body wound up in the number four (slow) lane. My Prayers go out to the operator's family, his company, and the towing community. R. https://ktla.com/2018/09/05/tow-truck-driver-killed-in-hit-and-run-crash-on-91-freeway-in-compton/ UPDATED: Authorities on Thursday identified a tow truck driver who died after getting struck by a vehicle while assisting another motorist on the eastbound 91 Freeway in Carson as Carlos Mauricio Dubon-Ventura, 33, of Los Angeles. He was to the rear of his truck, just before midnight on Tuesday near Central Avenue, when a silver Honda Pilot veered into the shoulder and hit him and fled. The driver of the vehicle Dubon-Ventura was helping because of a flat tire was uninjured. But a one-year-old girl, who had been put in the cab of the tow truck, was transported to a local hospital with injuries from glass shattering.

Yesterday, the Spirit Ride convoy took a small detour off the highway to do a drive-by down main street and in front of Stagecoach Towing in memory of Jon Israel. I was the last tow truck in our convoy with Mike and Ilce Corbin behind me. From the Spirit Ride memorial ceremony in Carlsbad, California, Spirit Ride officially heads due-east and plans to be in Baltimore in November for the Tow Show. Safe travel prayers are with Mike and Ilce. R.

Here's wishing David a speedy recovery.

Two of the three photographs show the mental culture change that on-scene safety suggests: Photo One: Operator is standing on the non-traffic side using the wrecker as a shield. Same Photo: Zoom-in on the operator to see he's using wireless controls. Photo Three: T here's a carrier on-scene as a blocker truck. Same Photo: Carrier is positioned in TIMs manner. Nice work indeed. R.

Thanks Ron for sharing and I hope the operator is ok. We send prayers for a speedy recovery. R.

The, "Unknown Author", mentions dedication, success and survival, but fails to mention, "Reputation". I see, "What is towing", as a study on day-to-day realities, but, this industry is far more complicated than that. GoodMichael said it best, "It is up to the people in the industry to adopt professional standards to ensure that a certain level of quality of life is ensured." R. 

This incident was the 2nd tow operator hit in California in 6 1/2 hours. The operator in San Diego was transported to Scripps Hospital in critical conditions to his legs. Christine and I offer our prayers to the families and companies involved. R.