ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. – Nikki O’Bryan is the manager of Paw Paw Towing, the company Wade Bivins was working for when the volunteer firefighter and tow truck operator was tragically killed in November 2023.
On Friday, O’Bryan wore a T-shirt paying tribute to Bivins. It included the words, “Slow Down, Move Over.”
“Today would have been Wade’s 58th birthday, so it’s rough,” she said.
Saturday marks National Move Over Day, an effort to remind drivers every state has a move over law.
“When you see flashing emergency lights on the side of the road, you want to slow down and move over if safe to do so,” said Nick Chabarria, AAA spokesperson.
He said statistics show around 24 emergency roadside workers are killed each year while doing their job on the side of the road. The actual number is likely higher.
“It’s not always recorded if somebody’s working on the side of the road,” said Chabarria. “They may show up [in statistics] as a pedestrian fatality rather than an emergency roadside worker.”
O’Bryan takes the truck Bivins was operating the day he was killed to schools to educate future drivers about the importance of move-over laws.
“People don’t understand that when you do see tow truck driver on the side of the road, there is actually a person standing outside the entire time unless we are pulling up or pulling away from the accident scene,” she said.
When asked what messages seem to be the most effective with students, O’Bryan said, “A true story. A story like Wade’s.”
She said Bivins was killed while helping a stranded motorist on I-255 on a sunny day when weather conditions were good. “He was perfectly visible,” said O’Bryan.
“It comes down to the fact that you have you know somebody’s father, mother, brother, sister working on the side of the road trying to assist stranded motorists,” said Chabarria. “You want to make sure we’re giving them plenty of space to do their job safely.”
O’Bryan pleads with drivers to avoid being distracted when out on the road. She said, “Help us go home to our families at the end of the day.”
