IONIA COUNTY, Mich. — A West Michigan native is facing a long recovery after being hit by a vehicle while working as a tow truck driver in Tennessee.
Now, he and others in the industry are calling for changes they hope will help protect roadside workers.
WATCH: West Michigan native calls for change after being hit while working roadside
Ben Moore, a Kalamazoo native who has worked as a tow truck driver for about 11 years, was trying to tow a broken-down tractor along a highway in Chattanooga last Thursday when a car struck him.
Dashcam video captured the crash.
“When I saw this car pointed at me, I knew I wasn’t going to be okay,” Moore said. “It was coming right at me.”
Moore began his career in Michigan before moving to Iowa and then Tennessee, continuing to help drivers along the way.
Now, he’s recovering in a Chattanooga hospital after breaking both legs and his right hand in the crash.
“Everything in my right leg was completely shattered pretty much from the knee down. It has zero weight bearing ability.” Moore said. “The non-weight bearing bone in my left leg is broken completely in half.”
His injuries have left him uncertain about his future in the industry.
“I probably won’t ever make it back in a truck,” Moore said. “It’s gonna take me years to be able to fully walk on that again, and that's if I'm fully capable.”
For Moore’s wife, Shelby, watching the video of her husband being hit was horrific.
“Absolutely devastating. The first time that they showed me I couldn't even look at it,” she said.
Barry Bussell, owner of I-96 Towing & Repair, says close calls involving tow truck drivers are happening too often.
“It’s becoming more evident every day that we’re having more and more close calls,” Bussell said.
Michigan's Move Over Law requires drivers approaching certain stationary vehicles with activated warning lights to take safety precautions, including moving over when possible or slowing down when necessary.
But Bussell says tow truck drivers still have limited protection when working along busy roads, even when they take precautions to make themselves visible.
“We’re the sole company out there that gets no revenue from anybody and are least protected,” Bussell said.
Moore says he was following safety procedures when he was hit, but it didn’t change anything.
“We have all these safety devices, the flashing lights, the the triangles on the ground behind trucks,” Moore said. “We have everything that we can possibly have and do everything that we can possibly do, and we're still getting hit.”
Calls for tougher penalties and better visibility
When asked what could help prevent similar crashes, Moore called for tougher penalties for drivers who hit roadside workers.
“Harsher first offense penalties,” he said.
He also wants to see an additional blue light on tow trucks. However, blue emergency lights are currently restricted under Michigan and Tennessee law. As it currently stands, tow trucks use other authorized warning lights, including white or amber lights.
Bussell too believes additional lighting could help drivers recognize tow trucks and move over.
“When you add that little piece of blue, almost everybody goes to the left,” Bussell said.
Moore said he saw a difference while working in Iowa, where he said tow trucks were allowed to use red and blue lights.
“I can tell you there is a massive, massive difference between the amount of vehicles that get over than that don't,” Bussell said.
Both Moore and Bussell hope the crash will raise awareness about the dangers roadside workers face and encourage drivers to be more cautious around stopped vehicles.
When FOX 17 reporter Paige Meyer asked Moore what he hopes comes from the incident, he said:
“Honestly, to to not have to see it happen, to not have to see guys hit on the side of the road.”
FOX 17 reached out to the Chattanooga Police Department for information about whether charges had been filed against the driver who hit Moore. As of publication, the department had not responded.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
