It can be difficult to comprehend a completely random act of injury when one is doing their job. A few days ago, a 46-year-old tow truck operator was focused on finishing the task at hand that helped him make a living.
He was unloading a car from the truck when a 29-year-old man hit the tow truck and the operator around 12:30 A.M. The tow truck operator reportedly suffered serious, albeit non-life-threatening injuries, and was rushed to the hospital.
The driver initially fled the scene but eventually turned himself in. Jacob Roy Andrews was behind the wheel of the car that evening and was extremely nervous about what would happen next. This fear led him to speed off, go home, and conceal his car on the side of his house.
After turning himself in, he was promptly charged with hit and run involving serious bodily injury and was taken to jail.
Andrews was eventually released on bond.
There are existing regulations in the state of Florida that are designed to prevent this sort of accident from happening. If utility, emergency crew, law enforcement, or construction vehicles are stopped on the road, drivers are supposed to adhere to a couple of different rules.
Cars are required to move over at least one lane to safely navigate around the stopped vehicles. In circumstances where that’s not possible, cars are expected to reduce their speed to 20 mph, or in areas of supreme congestion, to five mph.
It’s fortunate that the tow truck operator was not seriously hurt, but this incident will still prevent him from working for an undisclosed period of time. If accident-related injuries hinder your ability to work, Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath can help you. Their phone number is (561) 655-1990.
