'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
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.