A tow-truck driver is lucky to be uninjured after his truck was rear-ended during a recovery, causing a four-car collision.
The incident happen around 6 a.m. Thursday morning in the southbound lanes of the Island Highway near the Nanaimo airport.
A tow-truck driver was assisting a vehicle that had spun out in to the ditch and was on the shoulder of the highway with its lights on.
A semi truck got into the inside lane to pass the crash, when a vehicle behind it tried to pass on the outside lane. That vehicle crashed into the back corner of the tow truck. The tow operator was able to get out of the way just in time.
That created a domino effect, causing two other vehicles to crash.
Ladysmith RCMP, which responded to the crash, said no one suffered serious injuries in the crash.
Mounties said the driver who attempted to pass the semi and struck the tow truck could face charges.
Mark Kusznir of Central Island Towing said his tow-truck driver was lucky to be alive and was shaken up from the incident.
He’s urging people to slow down when they see a tow truck driver working.
“Please slow down and move over and don’t be in such a hurry. We need to get home to our families too,” Kusznir said.
Kusznir said that a tow-truck driver is killed once every six days in North America while on duty, a higher rate than police officers and firefighters.
Southbound traffic on the highway was rerouted for a couple of hours.
