Wild Lowndes Co. crash video shows importance of Move Over Law

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - WALB News 10 has learned new details about a wild crash on Highway 84 in Lowndes County that many have seen all over social media.

The video has been shared on just about every social media platform in the last week. It’s body cam footage from a Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was on the opposite side of the highway investigating another crash.

While on the scene, the video shows a car driving up the back of a tow truck full speed, and then flying over the truck and flipping in the air. The deputy then rushes to the aid of the driver, reportedly a woman who survived.

WCTV, WALB’s sister station, confirmed that the driver of that vehicle is a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee and suffered serious injuries and was taken to South Georgia Medical Center.

The incident is raising awareness of Georgia’s Move Over Law. Which requires drivers to slow down, and/or move over a lane when approaching emergency vehicles on the side of the road, which includes tow trucks.

“People not moving over actually has hit my family as well. In 1966 when my father was 12, he lost his father, my grandfather. He was hooking up to a vehicle and a drunk driver rear-ended the tow truck that he was right behind causing him to pass away at the scene,” Louis Kenda, part owner of Kenda Truck Center, said.

To protect roadside workers and drivers with disabled vehicles, AAA is offering some precautionary tips:

• Remain alert and avoid distractions when driving
• Keep an eye out for emergency vehicles, tow trucks, etc. that are stopped on the side of the road
• Slow down and if possible, move one lane over

“I can control the load that I am towing, I can control where it’s at once I arrive on the scene, and I can control how it gets off my truck. The only thing I cannot control is the people driving by. That is the worst nightmare,” Kenda said.

WALB is still working to confirm the condition of the driver who flew over the truck, and if she is facing charges. Penalties for not abiding by Georgia’s Move Over Law include a fine of $500 and three points on your license.

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