Ottawa, Ontario — October 5, 2015 — Ottawa police are on the lookout for a suspect vehicle after a tow truck driver was struck on Highway 417 late last week.
The Ottawa Citizen reports a tow operator was working roadside on the Queensway near Parkdale Avenue at about 8 p.m. on October 1 when he was hit by the side mirror of a passing blue minivan. The operator had been assisting a motorist on the right-hand shoulder with his flashing amber lights activated, but the minivan’s driver, an older man, did not slow down or move over.
Police say the operator was taken to hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The collision comes less than two months after Jonny’s Towing founder Abbas Kadir was struck and critically injured while working along Highway 417, and a month after the province adopted the Move Over law, extending roadside worker protection to tow truck drivers.
Under Bill 31, the Making Ontario’s Roads Safer Act—which came into effect September 1—motorists who do not slow or down or move over to an adjacent lane when approaching a parked tow truck with its amber lights flashing face a fine ranging from $300 to $1,000 and three demerit points. First offenders will be charged around $490.
The authorities are asking anyone with information pertaining to the incident to contact the Ottawa OPP detachment at 613-270-9171. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477(TIPS), toll free at 1-800-222-8477, or by visiting tipsubmit.com.
