LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. --- Local tow truck drivers and first responders join forces to bring awareness through its 'Spirit Ride' campaign in Lehigh Acres on Tuesday.
'The Spirit Ride' campaign promotes driver awareness and safety with the purpose of protecting tow truck operators while on the roads. The ceremony was held at Veterans Park in Lehigh and began at noon.
The campaigns motto, "slow down, move over," educate drivers about Florida's move over laws. The move over laws are made to protect tow truck operators, police, firefighters and EMT personnel working on the side of the road.
"I'm a hardworking woman just like everyone else out here," said Stacie Allemen, a tow truck operator for 1-800 Towsafe. "Man or woman give us room, more over a lane."
Statistics show that on an average 100 first responders are killed on the road each year and at least 60 of them are tow truck drivers,
"Simply give us room. We all have a family," said Allemen, "I am a mother of three boys and I want to go home to my kids alive, I don't want to go home in a box like that. They don't deserve that."
This is the first time that the 'Spirit Ride' has been in Lee County. A 8-foot ceremonial casket, which symbolizes those who lost their lives in roadside accidents, was also on hand.
The next stop on the campaign is Tampa.
