Towing Drunk Drivers = Saving Lives

A new law in Washington State could save countless lives by mandating that all persons arrested for drunk driving have their vehicles impounded and put on hold for 12 hours.

The law would officially be referred to as Hailey’s Law and a similar type of enforcement is already being used in New Jersey. It has been created in honor of Hailey French who was struck and severely injured by a DUI offender who had returned to her vehicle less than 2 hours after being stopped for possible DUI. Following her release by the police, the offender immediately returned to her vehicle and drove away, eventually colliding head on with Hailey’s vehicle while still under the influence of alcohol. The State of Washington was sued and forced to pay $5.5 million as a result.

Currently, law enforcement officers must separate the driver from the car in one of four ways: by impounding the car, by turning the car over to a sober, responsible adult, by turning the driver over to a sober, responsible adult, or by holding the driver in jail until he is sober. This leaves plenty of loopholes for drunk drivers. Even though a vehicle is impounded, it can be released immediately because towing companies have no method of checking a drivers blood alcohol level, nor the legal right to do so.

In September of 2009 3 people were killed in SeaTac shortly after the vehicle’s owner was arrested for DUI. Under the proposed law, the crash would never had occurred because the vehicle would have been impounded and held for 12 hours. Instead, another driver without a license drove the vehicle from where it was parked and picked up the drunk driver after she was released from police custody. The unlicensed driver drove the vehicle at a high rate of speed into the side of a warehouse, killing himself, and the accused DUI driver along with her brother.

House Bill 2565 has now been formally introduced in the 2010 session and could become a law sometime this year. Those sponsoring the bill include Representatives Ericksen, Simpson, Smith, Van De Wege, Sells, Orwall, Goodman, Morrell, and Moeller.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reported that in 2008 alcohol impaired drivers were responsible for 233 deaths state wide, which is nearly half of all traffic related fatalities. The WTSC also reported that “motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for persons 1 to 34 years of age in the United States.”

Hailey’s Law will prevent many alcohol related deaths if it moves through the House of Representatives as it is expected to. Many other agencies are in support of the life-saving bill, including the Washington State Patrol.

Airport Towing been involved in the recovery of thousands of wrecked vehicles over a period of 21 years, many of which are alcohol related injuries and fatalities. Support of House Bill 2565 is one step closer to reducing the number of lives that are destroyed from impaired driving. It is one more check system that would be in place to prevent tragedy.

Lakewood Officers Remembered

The recent loss of 4 Lakewood police officers has reminded us how suddenly we can lose people who are most important in our lives. Our own recent experiences with loss have triggered a particularly emotional response as we watched the news develop last week informing the world of a terrible ambush that took place in our own back yard against local law enforcement officers as they prepared for duty.

Our loss occurred last year when Airport Towing CEO Mark Storer and son Brian Storer died in an airplane crash, shocking the towing industry. Local friends and family members gathered to show their support. Neighboring police and fire agencies joined in to provide assistance to those who were suffering the most, along with other towing companies. The family at Airport Towing voiced their appreciation of the support received from public safety officers and others offering assistance.

Now it is our turn to pay back the support given to our family last year by assisting other families who have suffered a similar fate. Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, Greg Richards, and Sgt. Mark Renninger have all left behind children and families, both at home and within the police department. The families have endured terrible suffering as a result of the unexpected void that took them by surprise on a Sunday morning. We have felt a similar pain, and we know there are few, if any, words that will bring comfort to the loved one’s who are grieving.

Airport Towing and local police officers work together on a daily basis. The officers and towers provide a public service, working together at emergency scenes and during non-emergency traffic situations. Our company got it’s first bitter taste of tragedy when King County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Cox was shot and killed in the line of duty in December of 2006. Officer Cox worked with our Burien Towing drivers on a daily basis during his work week. When he was gunned down on a late winter night. Those who knew him and worked with him were heartbroken. It often seems as though the greatest hero’s of our community are those who suffer the most tragic fate. Two years after Deputy Cox died, Airport Towing lost Mark and Brian. Now, the attention has shifted South, to the families of the fallen Lakewood Officers.

A memorial service was held Tuesday at the Tacoma Dome for all four Lakewood police officers. Prior to the service, a procession of nearly 2,000 emergency vehicles led the ceremony from McChord Air Force Base near where the officers were killed in Parkland, past Lakewood Police Department Headquarters, to the memorial site. More than 20,000 people attended the service, including thousands of police officers and firefighters. The emotion filled service lasted more than 3 hours and featured many stories of the lives of the four slain officers. Family members were surrounded by thousands of attendees, including police officers, firefighters, dignitaries, and others. Governor Christine Gregoire was on hand to speak to the crowd, as was House Representative and former King County Sheriff Dave Reichert. More than 700 Canadians mounted police officers attended, as well as hundreds from Chicago, New York, Boston and other places around the world. The scene was awe-inspiring, with an honor guard of multiple agencies leading the way. For the families, the service was just the beginning of a long road ahead.

Several memorial funds have been set up to support the family of the fallen Lakewood officers. You can donate directly through the Lakewood Police Independent Guild here.

Hooked on Super Heavy Duty School

Three members of Airport Towing’s heavy recovery team participated in Super Heavy Duty Recovery School last month in Wenatchee, Washington. The classes were put on by the Towing & Recovery Association of Washington and hosted locally by Randy’s Towing. The Super Heavy Duty Certification earned by these heavy operators represents the highest level of achievement offered by TRAW.

Though many towing companies believe the only education a driver needs is experience (OJT), Airport Towing and other members of the Washington State Association believe differently. Clearly, there is no substitute for training. Participants are able to work in a controlled environment, and can take the time to work through scenarios, luxuries they do not have when on the scene of real working incidents.

TRAW’s Super Heavy Duty class includes classroom time and a final written exam, but the emphasis of the class is clearly geared toward hands-on training. Instructors work hard to stage large donated trucks, trailers, containers, and equipment in difficult geographical locations designed to challenge the tow operators. Throughout the class, the recoveries progress from simple winch-outs to basic tractor-trailer roll-overs, then on to more complicated situations.

Not only were students challenged with recovering heavy trucks that were thrown into the most precarious situations, but they were also given the realistic scenario of working through the night. Responding to accident recoveries in the middle of the night is nothing new to a tow truck operator, so the instructors decided to add the challenge of working in the dark during early morning hours without giving prior notice. The task was to recover a rolled over cement mixer, down an embankment, and off the main road. Through auxiliary lighting and careful rigging, the crew was able to safely recover the disabled vehicle.

Another scenario students were faced with  was to retrieve a heavy excavator, buried thoroughly in the mud to the point where the wheels were no longer visible. The class was broken up into two teams and students were asked to come up with a recovery plan that would get the job done most efficiently. Participants were given an opportunity to think on their feet, work in teams, and understand the limits of their equipment. From the working limit of the chain to the snatch block, the boom, cable, straps, shackles, and all other equipment must be considered when working a heavy recovery incident.

Students at Airport Towing observed that the value of working together as a team was the single most important lesson learned while working a heavy recovery incident. Their opportunity to train together helped the trio gain confidence in each other, which will increase efficiency while working together during real emergency operations. Just as any emergency scene responder has come to expect, tow truck operators must work quickly and in unison to be able to best serve the motoring public. Incidents need to be quickly analyzed and a plan for recovery operations must be implemented in a short period of time. This is especially true when heavy duty tow trucks are called on scene. Experience at work and training opportunities such as TRAW’s Super Heavy Tow School are the only way to prepare for such situations.

The location for the four day school and recovery class was at the Chelan County Fire District 1 training grounds. Fire departments are known for their level of expertise, directly related to their relentless training. Professional towing operators would love to have as much training as firefighters, but because towing is privately funded it is difficult to receive funding for training programs. Operators that donate equipment and drivers to these classes take a loss while their businesses operate short-handed.

This year TRAW was able to gain the support of 14 students who participated in the class and several instructors who were willing to volunteer their time for the benefit of the towing and recovery industry. Attending students came from all around the northwest to enhance their working knowledge of operating heavy equipment. Participating companies sending students included Airport Towing, Willette’s Towing, Pro Tow, Ron May Towing, Lakewood Towing, Randy’s Towing, Bethel Towing.

In addition to time and personnel donated to the super heavy duty class, several pieces of equipment were also donated to be used at the training facility. Airport Towing, as well as 3 other companies from Washington State sent heavy duty tow trucks to the Super Heavy Duty class, including Randy’s Towing of Wenatchee, Bethel Towing of Port Orchard, and Lakewood Towing near Tacoma. Randy’s Towing also provided a medium duty tow truck; George Washington Towing volunteered equipment transportation via a lowboy, and Nelson Truck volunteered the use of a new flatbed tow truck with side pull capabilities. Class instructors from TRAW included Rich Steele of Lincoln Towing, Keith Lewis of Pro Tow, Kurt Gillard of George Washington Towing, and Mike & Joanne Walcker. Visiting instructors from California were Bob Berry and Steve Cardineli.

Overall, the 2009 TRAW Super Heavy Duty Recovery School was a huge success thanks to the participation from regional towing companies, eager tow truck operators, and dedicated instructors. These participants are proud improve their professionalism and lead the way in our state’s towing and recovery operations.

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.

2008 Tow Show

Our founder, Mark Storer, and son Brian Storer were honored by the Towing & Recovery Association of Washington at the Northwest Tow Expo in Ferndale, WA on August 23rd, 2008 for their professionalism and contribution to the industry. Airport Towing & Burien Towing would like to thank the members and officers of TRAW for acknowledging the two men who have been the heart and soul of our business for many years.

The fatal crash that took their lives came as a shock to the entire towing industry this summer. Mark was particularly active in his towing association over the past 20 years and both he and Brian were well known throughout Washington State among towers, law enforcement officers, fire personnel, and many others.

Mark particularly enjoyed working behind the scenes for tow companies, especially when doing what he described as “killing a bill without any help” in order to serve the the towing community of Washington State. When Mark noticed that a proposed bill had the potential to become a law that would put unnecessary stress on local towing companies, he would lock himself in his office and call Legislatures and Representatives throughout Olympia, persisting over the phone until he was sure that the bill was dead. Most associations pay a lobbyist to perform these types of functions, but Mark carried the mentality that he would rather get things done himself in order for them to get done correctly; and he was very good at whatever he set his mind to.

Mark was also a contributor to his regional towing association for many years. He always paid his dues. He met with their lobbyist in Olympia almost every year. He served on the board in years past. Mark educated his drivers thoroughly and sent them to classes organized by the association. He attended the towing expo most years and contributed through donations and fundraisers. He purchased equipment via local vendors affiliated with the association. Mark also attended hundreds of monthly tow meetings and never hesitated to speak his mind for the good of the industry.

Airport Towing contributed to the show by displaying Mark’s original antique towtruck, a 1925 Ford Model TT Tow Truck, along with large photos of the proud father and son. Mark’s antique trucks have won many awards since he fully restored the Model T. There are now 12 antique trucks in the Storer Tow Truck Museum thanks to the hard work of Mark Storer and his employees.

Storer Memorial Service & Procession Widely Attended

Airport Towing & the Storer family would like to thank everyone who attended Mark & Brian’s Memorial Service. The number of attendants is a tribute to the wonderful men that were loved by so many different people. Both Mark and Brian would have been proud of the service. Thanks to all the volunteers of Church by the Side of the Road, John Knox Presbyterian Church, Normandy Christian Church, Mars Hill, Riverview Community Church, and all other groups for helping organize the service and reception.

Attendance at the procession was equally as impressive. Special thanks to North Highline Fire District, Bellevue Fire Department, Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department, Washington State Patrol, King County Sheriff’s Office, Port of Seattle Police, members of the Towing & Recovery Association of Washington, and all other towing companies, security agencies, and other friends who drove in the procession. Your overwhelming support is appreciated by the Storer family and is a true honor to Mark and Brian.

We estimate approximately 800 people attended the service and roughly 150 vehicles took part in the procession, primarily emergency vehicles such as patrol cars, fire apparatus, and tow trucks.

The memorial and procession were covered by Komo4 and Kiro7. We would like to thank all media for treating the family with respect and professionalism during this time of great difficulty.

Donations to the family of Brian Storer are currently being accepted at Sterling Savings Bank locations. The Storer Family Memorial Fund will benefit the 2 and 1 year old boys who lost their father this week.