RCMP and the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) have teamed up to highlight the need for motorists to slow down when passing emergency workers and tow truck operators.
On highways in Alberta, if a driver is passing a police car, fire truck, ambulance or other emergency vehicle, including a tow truck, they must slow down to 60 kilometres per hour if they are in the lane immediately beside the stopped vehicle, or change lanes away from the scene, leaving at least one lane between them.
Officials say many drivers don’t do this.
“It’s hard to watch your back the whole time, and all of a sudden, you think people are moving over or slowing down, and then you feel that rush of wind behind you,” Sgt. Darrin Turnbull said. “Then you realize that you almost got hit.”
Police said RCMP and Alberta Sheriffs issued 662 tickets for speeding past emergency vehicles in 2015, so far this year, nearly 400 have been issued.
The two organizations launched a campaign called #RoomToWork on Wednesday, with an event held on the side of an Alberta highway.
The event included a mock crash scene with a tow truck on the scene – and RCMP pulled over drivers who did not slow down, or changed lanes away from the scene. Officers issued warnings to drivers they pulled over Wednesday.
With files from Bill Fortier
