A tow truck safety bill sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee last week.
The bill, Senate Bill 5023, allows tow truck operators to turn on rear-facing blue flashers when they reach roadside emergency zones in addition to the red flashers they already are allowed to use on the way to an accident.
In a statement released last week, Wilson said red and blue lights will cause drivers to take notice, and prevent needless deaths that he said occur regularly on Washington highways. Wilson pointed to separate incidents in 2021 where two Longview-area tow truck operators were killed on the shoulder of Interstate 5 as they worked to remove vehicles. Two stranded motorists, Richard and Karen Stoker, of Battle Ground, were also killed.
Wilson named the new law the Arthur Anderson and Raymond Mitchell Tow Operators Safety Act in honor of the two killed Longview-area tow truck drivers.
“I knew Arthur Anderson and the accident hit close to home,” Wilson said. “But these were not isolated incidents — another driver was killed near Tacoma just a few months later. Tow truck operators are heroes to every one of us who has had a car die on the highway. They face danger every time they show up for work. We should do all we can to prevent needless tragedies like these.”
In his statement, Wilson pointed to data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that says tow truck operators have an on-the-job death rate 15 times the national average.
Wilson’s blue-light flasher bill is the last remaining item of a broader proposal he offered during the 2022 legislative session. Other elements of the broader proposals have already been implemented by state agencies or incorporated in other bills that already have passed the state Legislature. Those elements included a new speed limit in emergency zones and funding for state agencies to develop driver training materials, highway signage and a public awareness campaign to promote Washington’s slow-down, move-over law.
