Neil Giambrone Jr., owner of NN Automotive in Centereach, N.Y., says he has encountered numerous accidents caused by passing motorists who have swerved into his tow truck or into a disabled vehicle during AAA New York Roadside Assistance calls.

A few years ago, for example, Giambrone was attaching a Club member’s car to his tow truck after it broke down in the center of Middle Country Road in Centereach. A driver, trying to swerve around the tow truck, slammed into a parked car and then rear-ended Giambrone’s tow truck. Giambrone says no one was injured from the accident, but that it was still a close call.

“The driver wasn’t paying attention,” says Giambrone. “People don’t seem to notice our tow trucks, even with their flashing lights. People drive in total oblivion; they’re simply not paying attention to what they’re doing, and they’re endangering us and other drivers.”

Roadside problem solvers, police, paramedics and other first-responders who work along the side of our country’s highways often face the danger of passing vehicles swerving into them. In fact, AAA’s Roadside Assistance drivers respond to more than 29 million calls for help each year—including 700,000 calls handled by AAA New York—and can frequently find themselves in potentially dangerous situations. Sadly, roadside accidents sometimes result in deaths, with 11 AAA roadside problem solvers killed by passing vehicles in 2005 and 2006.

Unfortunately, incidents like this occur across the country all too frequently. “I’ve felt side mirrors of passing cars brush my back hundreds of times while helping members,” admitted Dan Bartlett, a roadside problem-solver in Washington.

The risks faced by those who work for the protection of motorists, as well as the growing number of injuries and fatalities, has mobilized AAA clubs to support the passage of “move-over” laws that include protection for road-service providers. In several states, these laws now require motorists on multi-lane roads to move over into a lane away from a towing or other service vehicle working at the roadside or to slow down significantly below highway speeds if they are unable to merge into another lane.

While 40 states have move-over laws on the books, 19 of them require motorists to move over only for law enforcement, fire and rescue vehicles—leaving roadside-assistance vehicles without the required protection that numerous AAA roadside problem-solvers wish they had. AAA strongly encourages all motorists to move over or slow down when passing a roadside assistance vehicle or other emergency vehicle.

“Move-over laws are essential for the safety of both emergency and roadside-assistance workers, as well as the public they are interacting with,” said Margaret Pittelkow, managing director of AAA Roadside Assistance. “AAA advocates the enactment of move-over laws for all roadside workers and encourages all motorists to move over or slow down whenever they see persons working at the roadside.”

“Any protection that can be given to road service providers as well as the motorists that they are assisting is welcomed and needed,” added David Robinson, assistant director of AAA New York’s Automotive Services unit.

Many roadside problem-solvers like Tony DiBlasi are pleased their state’s current move-over laws have been expanded to include roadside-assistance vehicles. During a snowstorm in Falmouth, Maine, DiBlasi was assisting a member marooned in a highway median. “All of a sudden I hear a car horn and look up just in time to see a Jeep about to crash into my truck,” he explains. “I literally climbed onto the hood of the Jeep as he hit my truck to avoid getting hit myself.”

Rather than merging in with slower-moving traffic, the driver of the Jeep tried to squeeze by DiBlasi’s roadside-assistance vehicle while traveling at normal highway speeds.

As a fleet trainer, DiBlasi says he hears of similar incidents on a regular basis. “We had one roadside-assistance vehicle get hit from the rear by an 18-wheeler and pushed down an embankment into the brush,” he says.