Page 6 - The Magazine of AAA Ohio Auto Club – September 2020

Ride into the Future
Join us for two FREE virtual seminars.
Smart mobility can help improve safety, increase reliability, provide greater access to mobility for all and prepare our workforce for the future. Are you interested in learning how smart mobility will impact your life?
If so, save the dates for our upcoming virtual seminars where leaders from academia, industry and government will be coming together to discuss their collaboration to craft smart mobility for all Ohioans. Attendees also will learn about the technology behind these new mobility initiatives and how it will impact the average person and workforce.
Technology Takes the Wheel is a free, educational seminar series that explores autonomous vehicles and their societal impacts.
These events are presented by AAA, The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research, Columbus State Community College, DriveOhio and Smart Columbus.
Technology Takes the Wheel:
What Does Smart Mobility Mean to Me? Sept. 30, 2020 from 10-11 a.m.
Technology Takes the Wheel: Creating a Workforce to Support Smart Mobility
Nov. 5, 2020 from 10-11 a.m.
Both events are free to attend Registration required. Register at AAA.com/TTTW.
AAA, Partners Launch Move Over Video
AAA has joined forces with the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Ohio Turnpike to encourage drivers to Move Over or Slow Down for all roadside workers, including tow truck drivers.
Leaders of each organization came together to produce a video that serves as a call to action to drivers. AAA Ohio President and CEO Dave McMullen is the voice for AAA in the video, which was released in July on social media. McMullen speaks along with the Colonel Richard S. Fambro from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks and Ferzan Ahmed, executive director of the Ohio Turnpike.
The video can be viewed on the AAA Ohio Facebook page.
The campaign also includes testimonials from roadside workers, including three of AAA’s tow truck operators, Dustin McClary, Gio Patete and Paul Hickman, who were featured in the May issue of AAA Magazine.
Slow Down, Move Over laws are in place in all
50 states, yet fewer than 30% of Americans even know about them. In Ohio, state law requires drivers approaching a stationary emergency vehicle, including tow trucks, to slow down and vacate the lane next to the stopped vehicle, if possible.
Last year in Ohio, 341 tow trucks were hit, according
to ODOT. Across the nation, one tow truck driver is killed every six days, making the towing industry
15 times deadlier than all other private industries combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Snow plows were struck more than 200 times. Road construction equipment was hit nearly 600 times. And law enforcement officers were hit more than 1,000 times.
AAA hopes to reverse these numbers by educating drivers on the importance of slowing down or moving over. AAA commends its fleet and contractors for their continued commitment to assisting members in need.
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