Callahan Towing, of Holley, organized a “Slow Down Move Over Brigade” on Saturday morning.
Area tow operators traveled from Rochester, beginning at the Market Place mall, to Buffalo, with a stop in Batavia at noon.
The group of tow trucks traveled about 25 mph the entire trip, a slow role, to make drivers pay more attention to tow operators on the road.
“We wanted to slow them down and take notice,” says organizer Sarah Callahan of Callahan towing.
Callahan says that on Rt. 33 from Bergen to Batavia, the group received a lot of arm gestures, “birds” , waves and honks, which Callahan says is a typical day for tow operators.
The slow roll event today also raised funds for One Team One Goal/Thin Line SDMO Foundation Inc.
It’s too bad that the public views us as such a bad reputation that they feel that they need to visually take out their frustrations on the very same people who, when they break down themselves, will call us to come get their car so they can continue going on with their daily routines. I want to ask you all, where would you or your loved ones who’ve ever broken down somewhere dangerous to even sit in their car would be if there was no longer a towing service from anybody to come offer their help to you, who would you call then? A friend who might tear off your bumper from incorrectly hooking it? Or perhaps the Joe schmoe down the road who could fry your rear wheel drive vehicle’s transmission from towing it from the front end? People need to consider the fact that tow truck operators are put at risk, ON PURPOSE, by those who view them negatively while doing a job they might depend on some day.