Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/500391
48 g o i n g p l a c e s | s u m m e r 2 0 1 5 getty Deadly Approach A timely reminder for Manitoba drivers to slow down, move over – and save lives by Matt Currie O n February 11, 2015, a CAA tow truck was rear-ended on Winnipeg's Perim- eter Highway. The driver, Jason Miller, was on the scene to offer assistance to a CAA Manitoba member who had slid into a ditch near McGillivray Boulevard. In keeping with Manitoba winters, the roads were icy, and while Miller sat in his truck by the side of the road, an oncoming vehicle lost control and slammed into him. "I had pulled over with my beacons on and was waiting for a second truck to show up to be a blocker; I didn't want to get out and put myself in harm's way because everyone really was coming way too close to me and it was really slippery and I'd seen a few people lose traction," Miller explains. ough the car that hit him was totalled, no one was hurt – in part because Miller, like others in his line of work, knows the dangers incumbent in lending a helping hand to a motorist in need and took the precaution of waiting for backup instead of getting out of his truck. "I've had lots of close calls," he continues. "People come pretty close and don't realize that they're supposed to give me space." Unfortunately, Miller's story is far from unique. "We use pylons on the highway to block the lane. [But] on a regular basis – I would say two to three times per winter – people will actually run those cones over," laments Glen Graham, owner of Anola Towing and a CAA contractor for more than 15 years. "There seems to be no respect for us at all trying to get a job done." Too many people, Graham continues, treat their commute like "they're in a race and they're gonna win [even though] it's gonna cost them 10 seconds if they wait." To make things safer for their own drivers and other towing companies operating in the province, as well as for other emergency vehi- cles, CAA has long been a driving force behind Manitoba's Slow Down, Move Over law. "Something needed to be done in terms of legislation," explains Mike Mager, president and CEO of CAA Manitoba. "And us being the biggest membership-based organization in Manitoba and obviously one of the bigger 85% of emergency personnel would be killed in a 60 km/h collision; it drops to 25% at 40 km/h. Keep them safe and slow down. analyze This When approaching roadside emergency vehicles , slow down and move over – it's the law.