New Law Protects WA Emergency Crews

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire will be signing the move over law today after months of hard work by the state House of Representatives and Senate to move the legislation to the governors desk.

The  bill that is on its way to becoming a law has been widely supported by Washington State police officers, firefighters, tow truck operators, and department of transportation personnel. Governor Gregoire has continued to voice her support of protecting emergency workers as they are exposed to dangerous situations.

ESHB 2464 prohibits drivers from endangering workers inside emergency zones on highways and freeways within Washington State. Emergency zones are defined as the adjacent lanes of the roadway 200 feet before and after a stationary emergency vehicle with a siren or flashing lights, a tow truck using red lights, or an emergency assistance vehicle using warning lights.

The new law also requires drivers to proceed with caution, reduce speed, and if reasonable and safe, yield the right-of-way by passing to the left. These new requirements, if followed, will protect the lives of workers within emergency zones and greatly reduce the risk to rescuers trying to help endangered motorists. If the new rules are not followed, tougher penalties will be enforced.

Anyone caught violating the rules of the emergency zone could be cited for reckless endangerment of emergency zone workers. The infraction is a gross misdemeanor of which the penalty is a 60 day suspension of driver’s license, up to one year in jail, and as much as $5,000 in fines. Drivers who break any other traffic laws while within 200 feet of the emergency zone are subject to double the standard fine for the infraction.

The new penalties emphasize Washington’s stance on safety along the roadways. Heavy congestion, inclement weather, and various types of terrain have long plagued the Pacific Northwest with motor vehicle accidents along the Interstates and Highways. While the state has improved response and service levels delivered to the motoring public, it has fallen short in efforts to keep emergency zone workers out of harms way until now.

Firefighters are often on scene of major collisions performing rescues and extrication before crews have time to establish advanced warning devices. Police officers are forced to work along side the highways every day, tasked with writing paperwork inside their patrol cars as other vehicles blow by at deadly speeds only inches away. DOT crews assist drivers who have become disabled in an effort to quickly remove them from harms way. Tow truck operators are forced to park in front of disabled vehicles while attempting to clear the dangerous roadways most often without any protection behind or beside them. Fortunately for the heroes that work hard every day to protect drivers at their most vulnerable moment, a little more help is on the way with the enhanced move over law.

Gov. Gregoire will be signing ESHB 2464 into law today at 11:30am inside Bellevue City Hall. The Towing and Recovery Associaiton of Washington will be among those in attendance to show their appreciation for the dedication to safety displayed by state lawmakers during the 2010 legislative session.

Lumber Recovery on I-5: No Job Too Big

When other towing companies from the Seattle-Tacoma area refused to accept the job of cleaning up debris from a major accident scene Friday night, crews from Airport Towing went to work.

Heavy duty tow trucks were called to an accident scene on I-5 in SeaTac this weekend that involved an overturned semi truck and a 53 foot long trailer full of milled alder. The tow truck operators were unable to upright the truck with the load attached, so they cut it loose and abandoned it in the median. The off ramp was shut down until DOT crews could push the loose materials out of the roadway with a frontloader and the truck was hauled away. After one lane was reopened, the insurance agent on scene of the major incident was told she had to find someone who could finish the job.

With thousands of board feet of lumber on the ground, she called Airport Towing to finish the job other companies refused to do. Trucks were dispatched to the scene immediately and Airport Towing made a quick assessment of what equipment would be needed to handle the complicated task. One heavy duty tow truck responded immediately along with a large 3 axle carrier and a forklift. Other equipment used was a second flatbed, an additional forklift, two tow trucks for traffic control, and nine personnell.

What made the job increasingly complicated was most of the stacks of lumber had broken apart and were loose on the ground. All but three bundles had to be carried by hand out of the median and up to the pavement where they were neatly restacked and lifted by forklift onto flatbed tow trucks. The three surviving bundles were only half broken apart and were able to be lifted by a large wrecker. Specialized recovery straps were used to choke the load together and bring it up onto the roadway as individual sections.

The load recovery was so labor intensive it required 83 man hours of labor with a total on scene time of over 12 hours. Crews from Airport Towing are confident that if they had been given the opportunity to manage the accident recovery from the beginning, the load could have been manipulated or the truck uprighted in a way that would have cut down on the efforts that followed to recover the load.

DOT crews praised Airport Towing for their efforts on scene as they worked through the night and into the next morning. “You guys do good work,” stated a DOT worker on scene at the time of the incident recovery. Airport Towing once again proved themselves capable of handling large and complicated emergency incidents and  made sure to continue working on scene until all lumber and debris were completely recovered.

National Publication Features Airport Towing

This months edition of Towing & Recovery Footnotes carried an article featuring the story of our company and the challenges we have faced as a family business. The focal point of the article “Good Men Down” is the sudden loss of our founder and his son last summer resulting from a plane crash. Mark Storer founded Airport Towing 21 years ago with one tow truck out of his house. He worked hard every day to create good customer relations and to create a good work environment for his employees. Brian Storer was one of those employees for most of his life. His playful attitude kept the atmosphere at the office fun and enjoyable. Both men were an integral part of our business and lives and it has been a tremendous challenge to try and fill their shoes. Fortunately our employees have stepped up to the task as the Footnotes Article so accurately described.

The tragic and unexpected loss of Mark & Brian sent a rift throughout the industry. Hundreds of professional tow truck operators knew them personally, as well as many local businesses who felt the pain, and several other friends and family members. Mark and Brian were very well connected throughout the industry and the community, which resulted in a Memorial Service of an estimated 800 people in attendance with less than 1 week of notice, several television news broadcasts, and many other articles written about the pair in the B-Town Blog and other publications.

One of Mark’s legacies will always be his Antique Tow Truck Collection. The fleet of classic trucks started as a simple hobby, but quickly grew into a passion. With just a small peek into Mark’s warehouse, it was evident that he had a certain obsession with the towing industry and it’s history. Mark has won a prize in just about every competition that he entered one of his trucks into. With seven fully restored, show quality trucks, he became quite busy with projects that were secondary to his full time job  and he never slowed down. After building up his antique collection, Mark turned to airplanes. He shared that passion with his family and grandsons whom he loved dearly. He would take his wife flying or out for a drive in one of the antique trucks on a sunny day. If the weather was poor, he was most likely working due to the increased work load in the towing industry. There was never a dull moment with Mark or his youngest son. We are glad that Footnotes found our story and offered to share it with their thousands of readers around the industry. It is our hope that the legacy of Mark and Brian continues to live on for many years so that the world can share in the joy that we experienced when they were here.

Seattle Snowstorm keeps tow trucks on the move.

More than a week of snowfall covered the greater Seattle area and caused vehicles to slip, slide, and crash all over the place this week. Under nearly a foot of snow and ice, the Airport Towing crew rolled out of the Burien office in full force and stayed out until it finally melted away.

The weather caused major disruption all accross the Puget Sound area, stalling commuters, delaying truckers, and putting vehicles of all shapes and sizes in the ditch. Fortunately, the Airport Towing trucks were running nonstop until the roads were cleared and our customers were rescued.

Local freight was a particularly large problem this holiday season as many shipments were unable to reach their destination due to unprecedented snow and ice conditions. Some trucks had frozen brakes and other components. Many semis lost traction on steep hills as they made their way to the loading docks. For businesses on the receiving end, the delays were frustrating at best.

At Airport Towing, we pride ourselves on our ability to solve transportation problems and we are working continuously to expand our quality and range of services to better serve our customers. This holiday season was our first true test of our brand new heavy duty tow truck in adverse weather conditions. Though the truck performed well on Snoqualmie Pass and in other areas last year, this was our first opportunity to navigate and recover trucks throughout Seattle’s downtown core under heavy snow and ice with our newly built 35 ton unit.  Our Peterbilt truck has state of the art equipment and towing / recovery capabilities that help us improve effeciency and safety. This Winter it has certainly passed the test of being one of our most capable trucks.

It is common knowledge in the towing industry that the worse the weather gets to be, the more tow truck operators can count on being out in it. As this years Winter storm took the Northwest by surprise, Airport Towing was ready with snow chains and manpower. We prepare for the worst weather conditions every year.  Our goal is to keep Seattle moving as we move into 2009, and for years to come.