Emergency responders gathered on the side of the road in Esterhazy Sunday to remember Courtney Schaefer, a tow truck driver who was killed when responding to an emergency call during a blizzard four years ago.
Remembering Courtney
Dallas Baillie of Baillie Brothers Towing said the event in Esterhazy Sunday served two purposes.
鈥淲e wanted to make the memorial and move over and slow down campaign the same event together, and so ourselves with the tow company, EMS, police and fire all worked together.
鈥淭he idea was to make it basically a memorial to Courtney and to get our message across about the slow down and move over laws in Saskatchewan for anybody that is working on the side of the road, whether it鈥檚 emergency vehicles or construction workers or whatever. This will be the fourth year that we鈥檝e done it. We started doing this the year that Courtney was killed.鈥�
The first 鈥榮low down, move over鈥� event quickly spread across the province, and led to changes in provincial legislation, such as allowing blue flashing lights on tow trucks, not just the traditional amber lights.
Baillie said he was surprised how the first event in 2017 captured the public鈥檚 imagination.
鈥淚t took off all over, and I think that is just a testament to how important safety is to all of us that work on the side of the highway, whether it鈥檚 EMS, fire, tow trucks, tire change guys, whatever, because at the end of the day we all want to go home too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big movement. I
鈥淚t鈥檒l be a good time to say our prayers and remember Courtney.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate an accident had to happen to get this movement going. But because of it the movement is all over Western Canada now and we鈥檙e working on sending our message down into the Eastern provinces, but we鈥檝e got a pretty good stronghold on Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta for the slow down and move over laws.鈥�
What did he hope the event got across to the public?
鈥淲e just want people to understand that if you see flashing lights on the side of the road, it really doesn鈥檛 matter what color of flashing lights, that means something is going on there, so slow down, move over, give room to whoever it is working on the side of the road because at the end of the day everybody wants to go home from their job and some jobs are more dangerous than others. We鈥檙e working for our families and a living, and we just want to go home safe.鈥�
Baillie said he sees the slow down, move over movement as one positive coming out of the tragic accident at Esterhazy four years ago.
鈥淚t was a tragic event but it happened and it brought much more publicity to the fact that we need safety on our highways,鈥� Baillie said.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 drivers are so much more distracted than they were even five years ago, with all of the technology in vehicles. They need to pay attention when they鈥檙e on the road. An accident like that was very tragic but again it started this movement and this movement is getting stronger every year.鈥�
Baillie said he was happy that members of Courtney Schaefer鈥檚 family were able to be at the event in Esterhazy.
鈥淲e stand on the side of the road, just to show respect to Courtney and his family, and Kim has been a great advocate for this,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously she was impacted because of the tragedy in her life, but she鈥檚 been instrumental in helping us with this movement, and so every year we want to recognize her and her young daughter for allowing us to continue to go ahead with this movement, basically in Courtney鈥檚 name.鈥�
Legislation one legacy of Courtney Shaefer鈥檚 death
One change that came about in response to Courtney Shaefer鈥檚 death is a change in provincial legislation.
In April 2017, the Government of Saskatchewan introduced and passed legislation to improve safety for tow truck operators. The Traffic Safety Amendment Act permits blue light to be used in conjunction with amber lights on tow trucks.
The legislation was introduced and passed in the same day鈥攚hich requires the unanimous support of the Legislature鈥攁fter Schaefer was killed March 7, 2017 in a collision along the roadside near the Gerald area during blizzard conditions. Saskatchewan became the first jurisdiction in Canada to introduce a two-color lighting combination for tow trucks.
Since then, Slow Down Move Over Day has been introduced and has grown each year.
