Sea of tow trucks hitting Sask. highway in honour of fallen driver

Red amber lights from hundreds of tow-trucks will be flashing along a southwestern Saskatchewan highway Saturday morning.

It’s to honour their friend Courtney Schaefer, who died in a four-vehicle crash involving a semi and his tow truck on Highway 22 near Gerald during a blizzard on March 7.

The procession will see two different groups of drivers, one starting in Yorkton and one starting in Whitewood. The plan is to meet at the junction of Highway 9 and Highway 22, near Stockholm.  Then they start the main procession in Stockholm at 9:15 a.m. and head to Esterhazy, where the funeral is in a hall next to the hockey arena.

“We’ve had phone calls and emails from tow-truck drivers across Western Canada,” said Dallas Baillie, who runs Baillie Boys Towing out of Yorkton. “This event is all about showing respect to the family and honouring our brother.”

Baillie also works with Roadside Responders Association of Saskatchewan. After an appearance on the John Gormley show Wednesday afternoon, the government contacted them about their requests for light designation. 

“We don’t know exactly what it is yet, but we are expecting legislation in the next couple of weeks.

Baillie expects it to be after the Police Chief’s meeting on May. 3rd as they already have SGI’s approval.

“I don’t care if it’s red, green, blue, but as long as it’s a light designation and you know a tow truck is coming,” he said, as they’re expecting to get blue and amber lights like snowplows, but isn’t 100 percent sure just yet.

Tow-trucks are a part of move over legislation, where you have to slow down to 60 km/h while passing with flashing amber lights.

“Amber lights are so common nowadays that nobody even slow downs for us anymore, that’s why we need a light designation,” he said.