‘You Have To Pay Attention’: Maryland AAA Worker Killed In I-70 Crash After Stopping To Change Tire

MARRIOTTSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) — State troopers are investigating a clang that killed a AAA idiosyncratic Thursday greeting successful Howard County.

“I deliberation it simply illustrates the dangers that our archetypal responders, that our tow motortruck drivers, that our police, our EMS, the dangers that they look each time connected the broadside of the roadworthy successful an effort to effort to assistance others,” AAA Public and Government Affairs Manager Ragina Ali said.

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The operator was 38-year-old Muhammad Shehzad. The clang happened astir 11:30 a.m. connected eastbound I-70 successful Marriottsville.

Maryland authorities troopers said that Shehzad had conscionable finished changing a level tyre connected the broadside of the roadworthy erstwhile a pickup motortruck deed him and his enactment van. Shehzad was wearing a information vest and his exigency lights were flashing.

The motortruck ended up astir 100 feet disconnected the broadside of the roadworthy down an embankment. The operator of the pickup motortruck was a 77-year-old antheral from Virginia. An probe is underway connected what caused the crash.

“Our investigators are not definite what the circumstances involving this clang are,” Maryland State Police Spokesperson Elena Russo said. “They’re surely looking into velocity and distraction, but, we don’t know. It could’ve been a aesculapian condition.”

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WJZ spoke with a AAA typical who said this is the company’s 3rd worker to beryllium killed connected the occupation successful the past six months. While the origin of the clang remains nether investigation, she added it is important to retrieve the slowdown, determination implicit law.

“Unfortunately, what we cognize astir the Slow Down, Move Over instrumentality is that a batch of radical don’t cognize that it exists contempt the information that determination is immoderate signifier of the instrumentality successful each authorities of this state and that if they bash cognize the instrumentality exists, they’re not obeying it,” Ali said.

This mishap comes conscionable weeks aft a AAA survey recovered 75 percent of Maryland archetypal responders said drivers bash not determination implicit oregon dilatory down.

Drivers that spoke with WJZ disagree. “I deliberation radical bash effort to travel that arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, but it’s not ever possible,” operator Linda Stuckey said. “You person to wage attraction to the cars that are traveling on with you arsenic well.”

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The operator of the pickup motortruck was taken to daze trauma aft the crash. Charges are pending against him arsenic the probe into what caused the clang continues.

Jessica Albert