ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas drivers will soon see some new alerts popping up on their navigation apps or screens inside their vehicles. It’s a new technology that the American Automobile Association (AAA) explains will help protect stranded drivers and tow operators who are stopped on the side of the road.
Many roadside workers face the dangers of being stopped next to the highway every day. Jayke Cluck with Roadside Services Towing of NWA said a vehicle’s side mirror hit him on the shoulder while he was helping someone on the side of the road.
“I had to go to the emergency room,” Cluck said. “It was just deep tissue bruising and just some scratches and everything, nothing broken, but in our dash cam video, it showed that they were playing on their phone.
For Cluck and his coworkers, this is an everyday fear.
“No matter where we are, we could be out here on 1st Street, and people are just either playing on their phones or just staring at their windshield and just not paying attention,” Cluck said.
In a new study, AAA found that tow truck operators are killed on the side of the road four times more often than reported. To add a layer of protection, AAA and Haas Alert are introducing a new technology that will alert drivers ahead of time when a tow operator is on the side of the road.
“As soon as a call comes in and one of our members is in an unsafe location on the side of a highway or blocking traffic, drivers around them will automatically see their location so that they can safely slow down and move over, give that stranded motorist plenty of space to work as well as that AAA tow operator that arrives on scene,” Nick Chabarria, spokesperson for AAA said.
The alert will come up as a notification on navigation apps like Maps or Waze and on the screens inside some newer vehicles.
The Haas Alert system is one of the first in the country that is fully automated.
“It doesn't rely on drivers reporting that they're on scene or marking that location,” Chabarria said. “As soon as that call comes in, the alert process starts, and nearby drivers will start to see that alert.”
Cluck said even with all the safety precautions roadside workers take, drivers staying alert makes all the difference.
“We’re considered an emergency response vehicle. We may not have the sirens, we may not have the red and blue important lights … [but] they should most definitely treat it as if a state trooper or a local cop is on the side of the road,” Cluck said.
When any color of flashing lights are seen on the side of the road, drivers are asked to slow down or move over.
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