'I love you, bro!' Family, tow industry pay tribute to the operator killed during Monday's snowstorm
Family members and tow-truck operators gathered in Ottawa to honour one of their own, struck and killed while helping a driver during Monday's winter snowstorm.
Approximately 100 operators formed a convoy along the Queensway, from Coventry Road to the Canadian Tire Centre, to remember Phillip Smith on Thursday, and to remind motorists to move over for tow trucks and emergency vehicles.
The 33-year-old was struck and killed on Hwy. 417 on Monday afternoon under the White Lake Road overpass. Police say a westbound snowplow struck the tow truck operator while he was helping another driver.
“It’s heartbreaking, it really is,” Smith’s brother, Sebastian Smith tells CTV News Ottawa. "I love this turnout, my brother would love it; he would do the exact same."
Smith was surrounded by family and other tow operators.
"Love you bro."
The tragedy, affecting those in the tow industry and co-workers.
"You know, it touched me personally because he left me on Innes Road, going for this call; it could have been me, it could have been any of us," Charles Ajayi, a tow operator, said. "He just passed beside me, put on his beacon lights, ‘Charles, I’ll see you man,’ and that was the end. It’s scary man."
The ride was organized to pay tribute; but, also, to raise awareness of Ontario's 'Slow Down/Move Over' law.
“We’re out here, helping stranded motorists, in the worst of weather, in the worst of conditions," says Junior Latreille, organizer, who also runs a tow operator group on Facebook called 613-Wrecked. "We’re out there, for hours, just trying to make sure that everybody gets home safe at the end of the day,”
Under the Highway Traffic Act, all drivers are required to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles with its emergency lights activated. The law also includes tow trucks parked on the roadside with their amber lights flashing.
The circumstances of Monday's crash remain under investigation.
With files from CTV’s Dylan Dyson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau 'absolutely' best person to lead the Liberals in next election: LeBlanc says
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc insists he's not planning a leadership campaign to head the Liberal party, should current leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resign, seemingly quashing rumours he's planning to make a move for his boss' job.
Pastrnak scores winner, Bruins down Leafs 2-1 in overtime in Game 7
Sheldon Keefe told his players hockey history would remember them one way or another.
King Charles III’s openness about cancer has helped him connect with people in year after coronation
King Charles III's decision to be open about his cancer diagnosis has helped the new monarch connect with the people of Britain and strengthened the monarchy in the year since his dazzling coronation at Westminster Abbey.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bombarded with spam texts? Stats show the problem is getting worse in Canada
In particular, messages that involve phishing — an attack where a scammer tries to trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link, downloading malware or sharing sensitive information — are on the rise.
The American paradox of protest: Celebrated and condemned, welcomed and muzzled
Americans cherish the right to assemble, to speak out, to petition for the redress of grievances. It's enshrined in the first of the constitutional amendments. They laud social actions of the past and recognize the advances toward equality that previous generations made, often at risk of life and limb. But those same activities can produce anger and outright opposition when life's routines are interrupted, and wariness that those speaking out are outsiders looking to sow chaos and influence impressionable minds.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
A driver dies after crashing into a security barrier around the White House complex, authorities say
A driver died after a vehicle crashed into an outer perimeter gate of the White House complex, and the incident late Saturday was being investigated as a traffic crash, police said. U.S. President Joe Biden was spending the weekend in Delaware, and the Secret Service said there was no threat to the White House.
Warren Buffett says AI may be better for scammers than society. And he's seen how
Warren Buffett cautioned the tens of thousands of shareholders who packed an arena for his annual meeting that artificial intelligence scams could become "the growth industry of all time."