A Vancouver Island tow truck driver says he’s grateful to be alive after a car slammed into the vehicle he was picking up early Friday morning.
It happened around the Trans-Canada Highway near Thetis Lake at 3 a.m.
Police called Westshore Towing to remove a vehicle from the shoulder.
The tow truck operator says as they were working, a vehicle sped by dangerously close to him.
The Mountie on-site took off after the driver just as another motorist slammed into the back of the vehicle the tow truck was hauling.
The towing company says its driver had luckily stepped inside his vehicle when the crash occurred.
“He could’ve been crushed, he could’ve been struck and thrown down the road […] two minutes difference it could very well be a different story,” said Dave LeQuesne with Westshore Towing.
The force of the crash totalled the vehicle on the back of the truck and caused significant damage to the truck itself.
Police issued the driver a ticket for driving without due care and are considering a ticket under the slow down and move over law.
“It’s a constant reminder that we have to put out to the public that in any area that has an 80 kilometre speed limit, drivers must slow down to 70 kilometres an hour and move to the far lane if it’s safe to do so,” said West Shore RCMP Const. Alex Berube.
Tow companies say a lack of familiarity with the legislation is far too common and it puts them at risk.
“My guess? Probably 20 to 30 per cent abide by it, the bulk do not,” Don Affleck with Peninsula Towing said.
Affleck says the company has taken matters into its own hands and has invested in its own “blocker” truck to protect its employees.
“It’s the answer, it’s the solution, it provides working space,” Affleck said. “The drivers immediately slow down, they immediately move to the other lane.”
With files from CTV Vancouver Island's Yvonne Raymond
