Page 3 - AAA Now! – AAA Shelby County – January/February 2020

AAA
Volume 4, No. 1
TM
HEADQUARTERS OFFICE
920 Wapakoneta Avenue Sidney, OH 45365 937-492-3167 ~ 800-274-3129
OFFICE HOURS
Monday through Friday 9:00AM ~ 5:00PM Saturday 9:00AM ~ 12:00PM
OFFICERS
Deborah L. Barga
Chief Executive Officer
Keith Putnam
Board President
Thomas Kerrigan
1st Vice President
Mary Lou Holly
2nd Vice President
Gerald Wehrman
3rd Vice President
DIRECTORS
Stanley Evans...................Sidney Kenneth Francis ............... Russia Mitch Steinke ............ Jackson Center Jeff Replogle ...................Houston Douglas Stewart...............Sidney Tim Gleason.....................Sidney Todd Lotz .................. Jackson Center Mike McRill...................... Anna
Judie Karhan
Editor-in-Chief
Tina Cathcart
Regional Editor
AAA NOW! (ISSN#1097-1851) (ISSN) is published four times a year (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, July/Aug, Nov/Dec) by AAA Shelby County, 920 Wapakoneta Ave, Sidney, Ohio 45365. Periodicals mail postage paid at Sidney, OH and other additional mailing offices. A subscription price of $1.50 annually is paid through membership dues.
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Lives on the Line
MEMBER SERVICES
L to R: AAA Southern Pennsylvania Chair & CEO Leon Barber III; President of AAA Northampton County Steve Lindeman; AAA President and CEO Marshall Doney; President and CEO of AAA Northway James Phelps; CEO of AAA Shelby County Deborah Barga; President and CEO of Findlay Automobile Club Pat Garlock; Linda Unruh former owner of All-Rite Towing and Repair; President and CEO of AAA North Penn Glenn Zumbach; President and CEO of AAA Hudson
Valley Michele Van Epps; Jeffrey Godwin, Committee Co-Chairman of the Survivor Fund for the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum; President and CEO of AAA Hoosier Motor Club Kirk Hendrix and Vice President of AAA Automotive Margaret Pittelkow.
to shove the other individual out of harms way but was unable to save his own life and was killed at the scene. Linda was so distraught when she learned that her state did not include tow truck drivers in the Slow Down Move Over law. Ultimately Linda began to fight her state legislators until they eventually included them in the law. Today, all
50 states include tow truck drivers in their Slow Down Move Over laws.
Because of these startling statistics, AAA is recommitting its efforts to increase awareness of and support for Slow Down Move Over laws. These laws are aimed at protecting emergency responders working along the roadside, requiring motorists to slow down and move over or change lanes, if possible, to give safe clearance.
The next time you see a service vehicle at the roadside, slow down and move over. Their lives are on your shoulders.
In 2005, the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, established its Survivor Fund to provide immediate financial support to families of towing operators who lose their lives in the line of duty. AAA is a proud supporter of the Survivor Fund. To learn more about the fund and how you can help, visit: internationaltowingmuseum.org/donate/
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Deborah Barga, CEO, AAA Shelby County
Aaron Helfrich ... James A. Coffey ... Denise Smith ... Robert Janaitis ... Daniel Bobholz ... these are just a few of the towing operators who lost their lives helping stranded motorists.
Emergency roadside assistance is at the core of AAA’s traffic safety mission. Yet, the men and women who help AAA members when they are in need also put their lives on the line every day.
AAA tow operators respond to more than 30 million
calls for help each year, working on roadside shoulders that are frequently no wider than four feet. Notably, the towing industry is 15 times deadlier than all other private industries combined; and an average of 23 tow operators are killed at the roadside every year. That means one service provider on average is killed in the line of duty every other week.
I recently attended a Move Over Slow Down event at
the AAA National office in Heathrow, Florida. It was so emotional and raw as I listened to Linda Unruh describe the events which led to her son, Bobby’s death alongside the roadway in New Mexico assisting a stranded AAA motorist along the highway. Linda is the former owner
of All-Rite Towing and Recovery and Repair. As a single mother she had raised her son Bobby by her side in the towing business. On that fateful day in 2017 when a co- worker assisting at the scene failed to notice a semi as it rapidly approached him he made the split second decision
WHAT'S INSIDE
Foreign Currency Tips .................................. Page 4 2020 Motor Coach Trips............................... Page 7 Amtrack Vacations ......................................... Page 9 Driver Safety.....................................................Pages 10-12 AAA Discounts & Rewards® ...................... Page 13
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
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Now!