AAA urges protections for roadside workers

BOISE – (January 29, 2024) – In the course of their work, tow technicians and other first responders are exposed to the serious risk of being struck and killed at the roadside. And according to new research by AAA, the problem may be worse than originally feared.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently uncovered 123 incidents of roadside assistance workers killed by passing vehicles between 2015 and 2021, nearly four times the approximate 34 listed in conventional crash data. The discrepancy is due to inconsistent reporting by different states and jurisdictions, including occasions where some workers were recorded as “pedestrians.”

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