Almost spot on a year after you uploaded this video, a towtrucker in my country was killed while picking up a trailer from the ditch on a motorway. He was hit by a car, driven by someone who was coming onto that same motorway from an onramp just behind the accident site. The killed trucker was the CEO and owner of the company.
I used to be a firefighter and we had 3 rules: 1) protect yourself, 2) protect others, 3) protect property. That changed at some point to two rules: 1) protect life, 2) stabilize situation. A smoldering slab of a house is pretty stable. An unoccupied car on the shoulder is stable. Job complete success!
Exactly. I used to work for an emergency response company (not towing) and have been through a lot of emergency response training. One of the big things they stressed was to protect yourself first, because you can't rescue someone if you yourself need to be rescued. That same thought process applies to many other things in life as well
I would absolutely call that trip a success! And if they would contact you to tow it when the roads improve, if it were me I would charge them double because they lied to you from the get go.
Good for you Casey. You know your limitations and you know how to be safe to protect you and others. I would not lose sleep over it. Someone gave you bad information and they will have to deal with it.
One of the best videos on youtube!! You made the right call, Casey! That was a bad situation from A to Z. I hope People see this one and learn from it. Respect! Thanks for sharing!! Best regards from Norway, the land of Ice and Snow! PS. Thanks for being safe, Casey!!
In 4wd, the brake balance might be off and the abs will not work on some 4x4's. It can mean that as soon as you go downhill, 4wd can get you in trouble. Know your car!
@@nilz6432 One, make sure the vehicle is properly maintained, as my old Mentor said to me 'It's a bugger if they don't go, a disater if they don't stop'. Two RTFM, where it clearly says ABS may increaes stopping distance in slippery conditions. Don#'t rely on a computer proggramer sitting in an office to do the job. You are in control of the vehicle at that moment.
You made the absolute right decision on that car, especially since they lied to you! You get to go home safe to Carina and Riley😊❤ NO tow is worth your life, period. Keep up the great work and stay safe out there!❤️🙏
I don't blame you one bit. You made the right call. I remember years ago heading up over the Santiam pass one night to submit a bid on a job the next morning in Bend. It was a skating rink. I bailed and went home. Like you said, no job is worth losing your life or getting seriously injured in an accident.
2 things: "Know the value of your life." "Slow down and move over." In just two weeks, I have seen two instances of each. Twice, tow operators were placing themselves in danger by standing on the side of traffic and between vehicles. Both had their backs to traffic and had to duck in. I also had cars pass me on the right as I moved left away from the tow.
Prayers to the parties involved. So sad to hear that. As another rotation tow operator I agree with you 100%. Stay safe out there and always watch your 6 every 6 seconds! No need to put yourself or others in danger. Keep up the good work 👍 and get home to your families safe!
I am in Canada and after hitting the ditch in a snow storm one time I was told my car would be tagged with police tape and I could not tow it out until the RCMP said it was okay for tow trucks to tow cars out of the ditch. The icy roads and visibility were such that to attempt any tow would be a danger. No one’s life is worth the risk. This procedure is not unusual here. In your case the car was safe, the driver was safe, so the car could have been towed out the next day. You made the right choice, that road looked very icy.
Well said & done Casey! No one thanks you for trying if anything goes wrong. And coming back home to your loved ones in one piece is what matters at the end of the day.
Heading home was a good call. We live in PA and have similar roads and conditions in the winter. A foot of snow? No problem. A 1/16 inch of ice? No thanks. Love the new truck (fellow Ram owner - ‘21 Limited but white). Great channel - keep it up. Waiting for you to decide that you need a new four bay garage for your grown up toys! And you need to rescue a puppy of your own. Puppies = RUclips views.😂 Stay safe…
People forget tow truck drivers have a choice of doing or not doing a job. I had a tow truck in the eighties and refused to do repo work, had a bank keep calling to argue I had to go repo a vehicle because I was the only towing service nearby. I had a welding and repair shop and only towed to get vehicles to my shop to fix them. Wasn't interested in stuff like repos. Have a great day.
@@CaseyLaDelle I did a repo for the tax office once and told the officers that i would drop the car if they would not wait while i was securing the load ( they waited )
I did some repo work in my mid 20s when I was hurting for money due to being out of work for awhile because of an injury after my 3rd 1 turned ugly after 2 no problem 1s I said hell with that garbage I had other skills I could use to make money a little slower but safer the people wanting the vehicle back didn't care about my safety they'd just hire someone else if I got beat down or shot
Where I live, Victoria Australia, if I see emergency lights it is LAW that I slow to 40 kmh ( 25 mph ), and we don't have conditions like you do. Everything you said makes perfect sense.
People are quick to forget the value of someone else's life.. I've seen it all too often, they just speed by without even thinking that their actions or those of the next driver could mean a family not seeing their father again.. good for you, always trust your gut!
i absolutely agree with everything you said. personally i think you should charge the travelling time due to the misinformation. keep up the great work and stay safe.
I have walked way from more then one job in my life and not doing them never killer or hurt me. Conversely, one was killed on one job and two severely injured on two others, (one per jobs). STAY SAFE, you have good instincts.
So glad you did not do that! I have seen so many fatal accidents do to black ice I'm a 60 yo grandmother and almost lost my daughter and her friend, thank God they were way before the 13 care pile up and that was to close for me. I live in Dayton Nevada, so many fatalities of lives. Someone's child, sibling, mother, father, wife husband and best friends including our 4 legged ones. Your wife and little girl Need you!!!!!!!!!!!!
As an electrician I have to make calls like that also. “No sir I won’t be installing breakers in your 1000amp switchgear live” “ we either set up a shut down or I don’t do it”.
I drove a school bus for 20 years. At least once a winter we had a day when they should have canceled school. But once we got the kids on the bus, we had to make sure they got home safely. I remember one day after I had finally dropped my last student and headed back down hill to the bus garage. The road was an absolute skating rink. I don’t know how but I managed to make it safely. Every trip like that gives you a few more grey hairs. I truly agree with everything you said. You, or in your description, the innocent drivers, could be doing everything right and still get taken out by someone who was not paying attention to conditions.
That's incredibly unethical of both the driver and the insurance company to lie like that. I'm glad you put yourself first, I'm sure many tow truck drivers have put themselves in danger due to those kinds of deceitful practices.
So sad that lady lost her life - innocent driver, road in good conditions...I've never seen so many unskilled/reckless/distracted drivers on the road (in 45 years!) as I do now. Casey surprised me by stating he was doing 30 on black ice..I just stay home in bad weather conditions, realizing it's not just the weather that's a hazard, it's other drivers. This even though the conditions are easily handled by my vehicle, just impossible to guess what dumb moves other drivers are going to make!
I know I’m late to the game but as a resident of Oregon, You made a solid choice. The ice here is wicked and needs to be treated seriously and O go wheeling in feet and feet of snow for fun. Cheers man!
Great call! The difference between brave and stupid is so small but you drew the line before you became or created a “statistic”. Great call you can now talk about! Keep it up,my hats off to you!
the question is... can't you charge for the "attempt", at least 50%? If the insurance company argues, tell them to charge the client for lying about the location...
When I was towing accidents in Amsterdam on a rainy day after a long dry spell a car spun out in a long curve that becomes sharper halfway in the turn, while I was standing on the hard shoulder I could hear the speeding cars correct for that sharper bend . The driver told me City-police left him on his own so I called for assistance but was told there was no unit available and I should ¨ see what I could do ¨ I drove back and started a traffic-jam and parked my truck across both lanes and started loading, within three minutes Highway police showed up and they where not pleased with how I solved my problem, after explaining they asked me to follow them to the nearest police-station witch we did ( the driver agreed to come along ) When we got there they must have realized that I was ready to go to the local news or the paper and they told me we could leave and they would go in and talk to the watch commander ( I never heard anything about it later )
I agree !00% Casey. I drove tow truck for a few years quite a few years ago in Northern Ontario, Canada, and have done exactly that a few times. You call it "know your worth", in those days we called it "save your ass".
My comments will echo all the others on here so far, good call, stay safe, because you should always be number 1 for you and the family. Also agree that it should be done in the day light with better road conditions and weather, it’s out of harms way, and if it isn’t that means you and your service vehicle are not either, without the proper assistance from a traffic vehicle such as the ones you described. Go inside and give the family a hug and kiss! ❣️
Don't know if you've ever seen the TV show out of Canada called Highway Thru Hell...about winter recovery work in British Columbia. I've driven that Coquihalla highway lots and live about 50 minutes to the west of it's southern end, it's no joke, you wreck or break down in a bad spot...don't stay in the car cause chances are your gonna get smacks by some idiot...your safety is number 1 on a mountain road, especially at night. Casey, you made a good decision, don't ever feel bad about making the call for safety.
I've seen a few episodes of it, but can't bring myself to watch much more than that. They create danger and drama for the cameras and I have absolutely no interest in that
Right decision which you don't need to justify to anyone. But they shouldn't have misrepresented the situation and called out a tow truck when the busy road was iced up like that already without an accompanying traffic police roadblock, especially as the driver was already in a place of safety. The police would have probably said forget it until the morning anyway.
gday casey. good man. your life is worth more than a car. i have a two wheel drive van. comeing home from queenstown one day there was heavy snow on the road for about 40 miles. i drove carefully. i saw 5 cars off the road. 3 of them were late model subarus. one of them had chains on the front wheels. the other two were also 4 wheel drive.
I agree 100% if the situation is dangerous, don't do it. If you are not comfortable with the situation, walk away. This applies in all cases across your entire life.
Totally agree with you. Stay safe. 1st responders are told to keep yourself safe. Your life is worth more than money, and the car can be recycled. You can not be .Good call, stay safe
Good call to drive on by! And really Casey, you should not have to explain why you did that. Your are the one with your hands on the wheel, not us. Safety comes first and foremost. Glad you made it home safely.
Our trucks and trailers get ALL tires Siped by Les Schwab. Doesn't matter the brand of the tire, they do any tire. You'll be Amazed at the steering and braking control you regain on bare road ice. It will work Great for your tow truck! 👍👍 Added bonus, tires will run quieter and last more miles which lowers your operation costs.
No thanks on ice! People at least will slow down with snow, but when they can't see the ice or they think it's just water it gets real dangerous real quick. Even with studded tires once you get some speed, there's really no stopping on black ice. The best you can hope for is to try to slide into something soft. I'm in Central NY state. No problem driving through snow up to the headlights. Ice is a hard no.
I know it's been a year since you posted this video , I totally agree with you, no job is worth anyone risking life and limb ( former volunteer fire rescue )
I commend you for not doing that tow that night. I wish more tow truck drivers would make that decision. I’m a snowplow operator for 34 years. We can’t make the decision to park. We are out there no matter what applying chemical or plowing. We work 24-7. By towing cars in those conditions they can actually endanger more people than just themselves by being an obstacle.
Your #1 job is to come home to your beautiful little girl!! She needs her Daddy more than that stupid car get towed! Good call brother! And I hate people too👍
About 1986ish, on an icy downhill slope in Colorado, I was young and dumb and stopped to help a guy that was sideways across the sidewalk. Another guy slammed on the brakes for no reason and totaled all three vehicles. I learned that people will do the stupidest thing possible in a dangerous situation just to ruin your day.
As a TIM (Traffic Incident Management) trainer, safety of the responders is top priority. You don't have to close a road to get things done. Take only as much space as you need. Get it done with the right equipment. And come back later if conditions are too dangerous. We've actually pushed vehicles and trucks onto the shoulder or median to get the road open, then come back the next day to remove the vehicles. Much safer in daylight and lower traffic volume. And one thing you've said before - put your most used equipment on the passenger side of the truck. Stay out of the lane of travel as much as you can so you can go home when you're done.
Good call for the no tow very much respect you for it , We have a snow plow business that road was in no way, shape or form fit to be towing any car on it, everyone thinks because we have a sander salter in the back of our trucks they can magically drive on ice also. I am also in the fire service and I tell all the firefighter when we get on scene our job is to make things better, you taking that car you might of gotten away with it but risk vs reward is what I do with every call now and that car was not worth it I would left it there also If the is a go fund me page for either of the people in the description the family or the tow service people can you please add a link to it Also I think every person should have to do a couple of weeks of traffic control for construction, fire, or tow services before you can get your drivers license I think it would fix most of the problem Thanks Casey for the video
Totally agree with you, everyone saw that fool, racing, on ice, at the beginning of your video. Some people get their driving license out of a cereal box, I'm convinced.
I have traveled 58 many times in trucks that is a scary place to have to pick up a wreck you made the right decision your camera does not do justice to that part of the hwy definitely a day time job with warmer weather
Yep, that camera does no justice to how bad that hill is and how nasty that turn is at the bottom. No way I was sitting on the other side of that turn in those conditions
Great comments. People fail to realize that driving a highway recovery tow truck if far more dangerous than being a cop or just about all of the dangerous common jobs. Live for another day with that cute kiddo.
I know Missouri doesn't see the same weather you do, but around here, if it snows, and a car slides off the road, but its not creating a hazard to the travel lanes, the car stays put until conditions improve.
One thing I learned while driving 18 up there, if your debating on if it's bad enough to pull over and stop because of the roads an/or conditions, you should have stopped at the stop behind you. Once you start questioning, then you already have your answer. It's time to stop at the very next place you can safely do so.
You definitely did the right thing Casey no load or money is worth your life you have a wife and a beautiful child you need to go home to even if those people didn't lie it can be picked up tomorrow when the roads are dry like you said with a traffic control vehicle there I know imagine that that the customer and the insurance company yes the insurance company lied that's hard to believe LOL as a retired trucker for over 40 years I've been in every state including Alaska you absolutely did the right thing actually when it got is greasy out there as it did you should have just said to hell with it and turned around no money is worth your life stay safe out there brother❤❤
That ice is not something to screw around with. Maybe if you had studded tires. It doesn't seem like there's enough ice for chains to bite into. I crashed my Tacoma on I-80 just west of Des Moines, Iowa, on roads just like that. It had snowed overnight, and I was in 4wd as I got on the freeway. This was around 10 in the morning. The freeway seemed clear. It was a bit shiny, but that's how roads look when they've been sprayed with de-icer. Except this one hadn't been, and that was actually ice. I took it out of 4 wheel drive and suddenly found myself going down the freeway sideways, and slowly approaching the wire barrier in the median. I hit that, going sideways at about 45 mph, and spun around to hit it again with the rear end. Unbelievably nothing important was damaged, and after the usual roadside questions like "Sir have you been drinking?" I was able to drive away. All of the lights still worked, although the right headlight and tail light had been smashed. This may be the only time that someone has crashed the front and back of their vehicle into the same obstacle. If it hadn't been so icy I would certainly have rolled, but if it hadn't been so icy I wouldn't have spun out in the first place. The repair bill was about $8,000.
Hey brother you've made it loud and clear you don't have to explain yourself anymore I get it it's just the rest of the world anyways keep doing what you doing and be safe
Good call Casey. Too many tow truck drivers are killed or maimed every year and sadly many are while doing stupid shit that should have waited until the next day.
Ice is horrific. In the old racing literature I believe the coefficient of friction with general-purpose tires to be about 0.8 for a dry track and 0.01-0.05 for an iced-over track.
People that don't understand that it gets slippery when water freezes shouldn't be allowed to handle vehicles on public roads. I drove a taxi some years ago and one winter evening I got a rather long drive with a couple returning from vacation. I had a "mini bus" but it was snowing heavy and just below freezing so a lot of semi frozen snow on the highway. I simply declared that I didn't know when we would arrive but we wouldn't keep to the original schedule but I would get them there as safely as possible. They were not happy, "we have paid to get there by this time"-attitude. About five minutes on the highway and a small sedan thinks I drive to slowly and overtakes. As soon as they are up next to me I start to slow down to be rid of it as soon as possible. They had barely passed when they lost control and skidded in right in front of me (and over the whole highway). If I hadn't slowed in as fast as I dared I wouldn't had a chance to avoid them and luckily for them they stayed out of the barrier. The couple didn't say anything more about time but thanked me honestly for the safe driving and tipped well (tip not standard in Sweden). THINK before driving and expect the unexpected. Thanks Casey for spreading the word about sane driving.
I have driven for a living most of my life. Now I don't even want to get in my car. No matter how good of a driver I am, it just takes one idiot to end my life. More than once I have said "NO". Some things just aren't worth the risk. Nobody can make me risk my life.
I live in Canada and they say studded tires only work until -15 Celsius which is 5 degrees Fahrenheit. That is what I am told by the tire shop I go to. They say studded tires is a waste of money. I agree with you Casey 100%. It is to bad that you can not charge for everyone lying to you. You put yourself in a very dangerous position for nothing. Just driving there and back put you in a dangerous position.
As long as the passenger was safe, I would never even have gone out with those driving conditions. You could have endangered the safety of a lot of other innocent drivers
You have a little girl, your #1 priority is to get home to her alive and in one piece. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to put on their reflexlite coat and and get in the wind. Cars are cheap, little girls (and boys) growing up without their daddy, is not cheap.
Driving through Italy one winter a drive that normally took seven hours, it was minus 8°c (17.6°F) when it started to rain, the whole road turned to slick ice, I saw so many accidents that day, the oddest was two semis from the same company that had gone off the road into a ditch and the second one was sitting squarely on top of the first, 16 hours it took with 45 passengers on board my coach, but we all arrived safely at our destination.
My friend was killed hooking a car on a clear sunny dry day on the shoulder of a multi lane highway. Trooper left him, another vehicle swerved to make an off ramp lost control and hit him. People just dont pay attention anymore
Almost spot on a year after you uploaded this video, a towtrucker in my country was killed while picking up a trailer from the ditch on a motorway. He was hit by a car, driven by someone who was coming onto that same motorway from an onramp just behind the accident site. The killed trucker was the CEO and owner of the company.
You would not realize how many operators are killed every year.
Too sad to push the like button! 😥
@@kingtut5923 As an ex-towtrucker (for 12 years) i have first hand experiences with the dangers involved.
I used to be a firefighter and we had 3 rules: 1) protect yourself, 2) protect others, 3) protect property. That changed at some point to two rules: 1) protect life, 2) stabilize situation. A smoldering slab of a house is pretty stable. An unoccupied car on the shoulder is stable. Job complete success!
Exactly. I used to work for an emergency response company (not towing) and have been through a lot of emergency response training. One of the big things they stressed was to protect yourself first, because you can't rescue someone if you yourself need to be rescued. That same thought process applies to many other things in life as well
I was taught and teach. Don't make it worse. One family at the graveside is bad. Two is even worse.
Thank you for your service
I would absolutely call that trip a success! And if they would contact you to tow it when the roads improve, if it were me I would charge them double because they lied to you from the get go.
Good for you Casey. You know your limitations and you know how to be safe to protect you and others. I would not lose sleep over it. Someone gave you bad information and they will have to deal with it.
Exactly I agree they lied so no tow . His safety would is more important then that car in those condition .
When in doubt get the hell out. I owned a auto transport company with drivers and that was always our policy
One of the best videos on youtube!! You made the right call, Casey! That was a bad situation from A to Z. I hope People see this one and learn from it. Respect! Thanks for sharing!! Best regards from Norway, the land of Ice and Snow! PS. Thanks for being safe, Casey!!
Nice to see someone that knows when to use his 4x4 and that you still took it easy 4x4 does not make you invincible
4 wheels can get you into twice as much trouble as 2 wheel drive.
@@51WCDodge true! You have to know how it works and how to use it correctly!
In 4wd, the brake balance might be off and the abs will not work on some 4x4's. It can mean that as soon as you go downhill, 4wd can get you in trouble. Know your car!
@@stevenwalberg2696 All to many think 4 wheel drive defies the laws of physics.
@@nilz6432 One, make sure the vehicle is properly maintained, as my old Mentor said to me 'It's a bugger if they don't go, a disater if they don't stop'. Two RTFM, where it clearly says ABS may increaes stopping distance in slippery conditions. Don#'t rely on a computer proggramer sitting in an office to do the job. You are in control of the vehicle at that moment.
You made the absolute right decision on that car, especially since they lied to you! You get to go home safe to Carina and Riley😊❤ NO tow is worth your life, period. Keep up the great work and stay safe out there!❤️🙏
I don't blame you one bit. You made the right call. I remember years ago heading up over the Santiam pass one night to submit a bid on a job the next morning in Bend. It was a skating rink. I bailed and went home. Like you said, no job is worth losing your life or getting seriously injured in an accident.
2 things:
"Know the value of your life."
"Slow down and move over."
In just two weeks, I have seen two instances of each. Twice, tow operators were placing themselves in danger by standing on the side of traffic and between vehicles. Both had their backs to traffic and had to duck in.
I also had cars pass me on the right as I moved left away from the tow.
Prayers to the parties involved. So sad to hear that. As another rotation tow operator I agree with you 100%. Stay safe out there and always watch your 6 every 6 seconds! No need to put yourself or others in danger. Keep up the good work 👍 and get home to your families safe!
The job has it's dangers in good weather let alone at night in bad weather. More power to you for taking safe than sorry.
Good call Casey, that car or any other isn’t worth your daughter growing up without her father
Casey you made the right choice.Job complete. Safety first. No broken down or wrecked vehicle is worth somebody’s life.Thanks for sharing.☺️☺️☺️👍👍👍👍
I am in Canada and after hitting the ditch in a snow storm one time I was told my car would be tagged with police tape and I could not tow it out until the RCMP said it was okay for tow trucks to tow cars out of the ditch. The icy roads and visibility were such that to attempt any tow would be a danger. No one’s life is worth the risk. This procedure is not unusual here.
In your case the car was safe, the driver was safe, so the car could have been towed out the next day. You made the right choice, that road looked very icy.
Even if the car isn't safe as someone could have the same wreck she did and hit it vehicles can be replaced lives can't
@@davidwoermansr By ‘safe’ I mean off the road and not in danger of causing an accident.
Well said & done Casey!
No one thanks you for trying if anything goes wrong. And coming back home to your loved ones in one piece is what matters at the end of the day.
Heading home was a good call. We live in PA and have similar roads and conditions in the winter. A foot of snow? No problem. A 1/16 inch of ice? No thanks.
Love the new truck (fellow Ram owner - ‘21 Limited but white). Great channel - keep it up. Waiting for you to decide that you need a new four bay garage for your grown up toys! And you need to rescue a puppy of your own. Puppies = RUclips views.😂
Stay safe…
I have to comment on this one. You probably just saved thousands of by saying it like it is. God bless and thank you Casey
People forget tow truck drivers have a choice of doing or not doing a job. I had a tow truck in the eighties and refused to do repo work, had a bank keep calling to argue I had to go repo a vehicle because I was the only towing service nearby. I had a welding and repair shop and only towed to get vehicles to my shop to fix them. Wasn't interested in stuff like repos. Have a great day.
I don't do any sort of repo or impound towing either.
@@CaseyLaDelle I did a repo for the tax office once and told the officers that i would drop the car if they would not wait while i was securing the load ( they waited )
I did some repo work in my mid 20s when I was hurting for money due to being out of work for awhile because of an injury after my 3rd 1 turned ugly after 2 no problem 1s I said hell with that garbage I had other skills I could use to make money a little slower but safer the people wanting the vehicle back didn't care about my safety they'd just hire someone else if I got beat down or shot
Do what you need to stay safe man! If they were honest with you, you could have prepared yourself. Its on them for misrepresenting the situation
I preach SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!! I used to tell my truckers, YOU control your truck not dispatch or customers!!
Where I live, Victoria Australia, if I see emergency lights it is LAW that I slow to 40 kmh ( 25 mph ), and we don't have conditions like you do. Everything you said makes perfect sense.
No material that can be replaced is worth risking your life for until it is safe to retrieve. Good job Casey.
People are quick to forget the value of someone else's life.. I've seen it all too often, they just speed by without even thinking that their actions or those of the next driver could mean a family not seeing their father again.. good for you, always trust your gut!
Haven't even watched the video yet but two huge thumbs up for the description 👍
i absolutely agree with everything you said. personally i think you should charge the travelling time due to the misinformation. keep up the great work and stay safe.
I have walked way from more then one job in my life and not doing them never killer or hurt me. Conversely, one was killed on one job and two severely injured on two others, (one per jobs). STAY SAFE, you have good instincts.
Great conversation about ice on roads. I understand it already but many people do not.
Kudos to you for knowing when to say no!
Just became a subscriber just started to watch Great Call.
So glad you did not do that! I have seen so many fatal accidents do to black ice I'm a 60 yo grandmother and almost lost my daughter and her friend, thank God they were way before the 13 care pile up and that was to close for me. I live in Dayton Nevada, so many fatalities of lives. Someone's child, sibling, mother, father, wife husband and best friends including our 4 legged ones. Your wife and little girl Need you!!!!!!!!!!!!
As an electrician I have to make calls like that also. “No sir I won’t be installing breakers in your 1000amp switchgear live” “ we either set up a shut down or I don’t do it”.
I drove a school bus for 20 years. At least once a winter we had a day when they should have canceled school. But once we got the kids on the bus, we had to make sure they got home safely. I remember one day after I had finally dropped my last student and headed back down hill to the bus garage. The road was an absolute skating rink. I don’t know how but I managed to make it safely. Every trip like that gives you a few more grey hairs. I truly agree with everything you said. You, or in your description, the innocent drivers, could be doing everything right and still get taken out by someone who was not paying attention to conditions.
That's incredibly unethical of both the driver and the insurance company to lie like that. I'm glad you put yourself first, I'm sure many tow truck drivers have put themselves in danger due to those kinds of deceitful practices.
while driving a tow truck, my boss told me, "The customer always lies". During those three years, I learned he was absolutely correct.
So sad that lady lost her life - innocent driver, road in good conditions...I've never seen so many unskilled/reckless/distracted drivers on the road (in 45 years!) as I do now. Casey surprised me by stating he was doing 30 on black ice..I just stay home in bad weather conditions, realizing it's not just the weather that's a hazard, it's other drivers. This even though the conditions are easily handled by my vehicle, just impossible to guess what dumb moves other drivers are going to make!
Good advice! Stay safe. NO car is worth putting yourself, and others, at risk. You chose correctly, as far as I can see.
I'm so sorry for the innocent folks involved. Prayers for all of them.
I know I’m late to the game but as a resident of Oregon, You made a solid choice. The ice here is wicked and needs to be treated seriously and O go wheeling in feet and feet of snow for fun. Cheers man!
Great call! The difference between brave and stupid is so small but you drew the line before you became or created a “statistic”. Great call you can now talk about! Keep it up,my hats off to you!
the question is... can't you charge for the "attempt", at least 50%? If the insurance company argues, tell them to charge the client for lying about the location...
Casey, I totally Agree with you. Property can be replaced, Life can not!!!!
always Protect yourself
GOOD FOR YOU !!!! You are your Safety Manager no one else !!!
So wise , good idea to check you're traction factor . Thank You for the reminder . Stay smart , stay safe
Very well explained and so glad you made it back home
Good job Casey thanks for the ride along. Stay safe
When I was towing accidents in Amsterdam on a rainy day after a long dry spell a car spun out in a long curve that becomes sharper halfway in the turn, while I was standing on the hard shoulder I could hear the speeding cars correct for that sharper bend . The driver told me City-police left him on his own so I called for assistance but was told there was no unit available and I should ¨ see what I could do ¨ I drove back and started a traffic-jam and parked my truck across both lanes and started loading, within three minutes Highway police showed up and they where not pleased with how I solved my problem, after explaining they asked me to follow them to the nearest police-station witch we did ( the driver agreed to come along ) When we got there they must have realized that I was ready to go to the local news or the paper and they told me we could leave and they would go in and talk to the watch commander ( I never heard anything about it later )
I think you made a very wise call there. If something doesn't feel right, just don't do it is a great bit of advice in nearly any aspect of life.
I agree !00% Casey. I drove tow truck for a few years quite a few years ago in Northern Ontario, Canada, and have done exactly that a few times. You call it "know your worth", in those days we called it "save your ass".
My comments will echo all the others on here so far, good call, stay safe, because you should always be number 1 for you and the family. Also agree that it should be done in the day light with better road conditions and weather, it’s out of harms way, and if it isn’t that means you and your service vehicle are not either, without the proper assistance from a traffic vehicle such as the ones you described.
Go inside and give the family a hug and kiss! ❣️
Don't know if you've ever seen the TV show out of Canada called Highway Thru Hell...about winter recovery work in British Columbia. I've driven that Coquihalla highway lots and live about 50 minutes to the west of it's southern end, it's no joke, you wreck or break down in a bad spot...don't stay in the car cause chances are your gonna get smacks by some idiot...your safety is number 1 on a mountain road, especially at night. Casey, you made a good decision, don't ever feel bad about making the call for safety.
I've seen a few episodes of it, but can't bring myself to watch much more than that. They create danger and drama for the cameras and I have absolutely no interest in that
Right decision which you don't need to justify to anyone. But they shouldn't have misrepresented the situation and called out a tow truck when the busy road was iced up like that already without an accompanying traffic police roadblock, especially as the driver was already in a place of safety. The police would have probably said forget it until the morning anyway.
gday casey. good man. your life is worth more than a car. i have a two wheel drive van. comeing home from queenstown one day there was heavy snow on the road for about 40 miles. i drove carefully. i saw 5 cars off the road. 3 of them were late model subarus. one of them had chains on the front wheels. the other two were also 4 wheel drive.
I agree 100% if the situation is dangerous, don't do it. If you are not comfortable with the situation, walk away. This applies in all cases across your entire life.
Totally agree with you. Stay safe. 1st responders are told to keep yourself safe. Your life is worth more than money, and the car can be recycled. You can not be .Good call, stay safe
You're a smart guy, THAT is why I watch!
You did the right thing. Anyone thinking otherwise hasn't been in that situation, or aren't using sound reasonable logic.
Good call to drive on by! And really Casey, you should not have to explain why you did that. Your are the one with your hands on the wheel, not us. Safety comes first and foremost. Glad you made it home safely.
Good on you Casey. Be safe out there.
Our trucks and trailers get ALL tires Siped by Les Schwab. Doesn't matter the brand of the tire, they do any tire. You'll be Amazed at the steering and braking control you regain on bare road ice. It will work Great for your tow truck! 👍👍
Added bonus, tires will run quieter and last more miles which lowers your operation costs.
Having towed on 58 in winter, you made the right call. Most people don't understand how dangerous that highway is when it's not ice.
That highway is dangerous in the best of conditions. I think I'd rather go over Santiam in a blizzard than 58 in the middle of summer
No thanks on ice! People at least will slow down with snow, but when they can't see the ice or they think it's just water it gets real dangerous real quick.
Even with studded tires once you get some speed, there's really no stopping on black ice. The best you can hope for is to try to slide into something soft.
I'm in Central NY state. No problem driving through snow up to the headlights. Ice is a hard no.
I know it's been a year since you posted this video , I totally agree with you, no job is worth anyone risking life and limb ( former volunteer fire rescue )
I commend you for not doing that tow that night. I wish more tow truck drivers would make that decision. I’m a snowplow operator for 34 years. We can’t make the decision to park. We are out there no matter what applying chemical or plowing. We work 24-7. By towing cars in those conditions they can actually endanger more people than just themselves by being an obstacle.
Your #1 job is to come home to your beautiful little girl!! She needs her Daddy more than that stupid car get towed! Good call brother! And I hate people too👍
Well, no one can say your prudice! You just hate everybody! :-)
About 1986ish, on an icy downhill slope in Colorado, I was young and dumb and stopped to help a guy that was sideways across the sidewalk. Another guy slammed on the brakes for no reason and totaled all three vehicles. I learned that people will do the stupidest thing possible in a dangerous situation just to ruin your day.
You definitely made the rite call you can't help anyone if your dead....... another great video
As a TIM (Traffic Incident Management) trainer, safety of the responders is top priority. You don't have to close a road to get things done. Take only as much space as you need. Get it done with the right equipment. And come back later if conditions are too dangerous. We've actually pushed vehicles and trucks onto the shoulder or median to get the road open, then come back the next day to remove the vehicles. Much safer in daylight and lower traffic volume. And one thing you've said before - put your most used equipment on the passenger side of the truck. Stay out of the lane of travel as much as you can so you can go home when you're done.
My truck was hit whilst assisting in snow, lesson learnt, never again. You did the right thing.
I've got a lot of miles winter driving under my belt, and very few miles driving one ice. When it ices up, I get off the road. Good call Casey.
Put a foot of snow on the road and I won't think twice. But pure ice and I want to go home.
Good call for the no tow very much respect you for it , We have a snow plow business that road was in no way, shape or form fit to be towing any car on it, everyone thinks because we have a sander salter in the back of our trucks they can magically drive on ice also.
I am also in the fire service and I tell all the firefighter when we get on scene our job is to make things better, you taking that car you might of gotten away with it but risk vs reward is what I do with every call now and that car was not worth it I would left it there also
If the is a go fund me page for either of the people in the description the family or the tow service people can you please add a link to it
Also I think every person should have to do a couple of weeks of traffic control for construction, fire, or tow services before you can get your drivers license I think it would fix most of the problem
Thanks Casey for the video
I don't know of a go fund me for that family yet, but if I here of one I will post it
"NO" is so much more powerful than "Yes". Thank you for reminding us that! B
Totally agree with you, everyone saw that fool, racing, on ice, at the beginning of your video. Some people get their driving license out of a cereal box, I'm convinced.
I have traveled 58 many times in trucks that is a scary place to have to pick up a wreck you made the right decision your camera does not do justice to that part of the hwy definitely a day time job with warmer weather
Yep, that camera does no justice to how bad that hill is and how nasty that turn is at the bottom. No way I was sitting on the other side of that turn in those conditions
It's always better to be safe than sorry.Like you said your life and the life of anyone out on the road is not worth it.
Great call, serious amount of driving though. Cheers.
Godspeed very good decision and by the way a great attitude 👍🏻👍🏻 and your home for your family and you did win this time
Great comments. People fail to realize that driving a highway recovery tow truck if far more dangerous than being a cop or just about all of the dangerous common jobs. Live for another day with that cute kiddo.
Right call casey, no car is worth dying for, that trip was a success,you got back home safe !
I know Missouri doesn't see the same weather you do, but around here, if it snows, and a car slides off the road, but its not creating a hazard to the travel lanes, the car stays put until conditions improve.
Same here. That's why I was very specific when asking the customer where exactly the car was and ensured that it was not on the shoulder of the road
When the big trucks pull over that is a dead give away that you should not be driving.
One thing I learned while driving 18 up there, if your debating on if it's bad enough to pull over and stop because of the roads an/or conditions, you should have stopped at the stop behind you. Once you start questioning, then you already have your answer. It's time to stop at the very next place you can safely do so.
You definitely did the right thing Casey no load or money is worth your life you have a wife and a beautiful child you need to go home to even if those people didn't lie it can be picked up tomorrow when the roads are dry like you said with a traffic control vehicle there I know imagine that that the customer and the insurance company yes the insurance company lied that's hard to believe LOL as a retired trucker for over 40 years I've been in every state including Alaska you absolutely did the right thing actually when it got is greasy out there as it did you should have just said to hell with it and turned around no money is worth your life stay safe out there brother❤❤
Nothing like a trip down Hwy 58 on a winters night to teach you what studded tires are for. Go job keeping the rubber side down.
That ice is not something to screw around with. Maybe if you had studded tires. It doesn't seem like there's enough ice for chains to bite into.
I crashed my Tacoma on I-80 just west of Des Moines, Iowa, on roads just like that. It had snowed overnight, and I was in 4wd as I got on the freeway. This was around 10 in the morning. The freeway seemed clear. It was a bit shiny, but that's how roads look when they've been sprayed with de-icer. Except this one hadn't been, and that was actually ice. I took it out of 4 wheel drive and suddenly found myself going down the freeway sideways, and slowly approaching the wire barrier in the median. I hit that, going sideways at about 45 mph, and spun around to hit it again with the rear end.
Unbelievably nothing important was damaged, and after the usual roadside questions like "Sir have you been drinking?" I was able to drive away. All of the lights still worked, although the right headlight and tail light had been smashed.
This may be the only time that someone has crashed the front and back of their vehicle into the same obstacle.
If it hadn't been so icy I would certainly have rolled, but if it hadn't been so icy I wouldn't have spun out in the first place.
The repair bill was about $8,000.
Hey brother you've made it loud and clear you don't have to explain yourself anymore I get it it's just the rest of the world anyways keep doing what you doing and be safe
Good call Casey. Too many tow truck drivers are killed or maimed every year and sadly many are while doing stupid shit that should have waited until the next day.
Ice is horrific. In the old racing literature I believe the coefficient of friction with general-purpose tires to be about 0.8 for a dry track and 0.01-0.05 for an iced-over track.
People that don't understand that it gets slippery when water freezes shouldn't be allowed to handle vehicles on public roads.
I drove a taxi some years ago and one winter evening I got a rather long drive with a couple returning from vacation. I had a "mini bus" but it was snowing heavy and just below freezing so a lot of semi frozen snow on the highway. I simply declared that I didn't know when we would arrive but we wouldn't keep to the original schedule but I would get them there as safely as possible.
They were not happy, "we have paid to get there by this time"-attitude.
About five minutes on the highway and a small sedan thinks I drive to slowly and overtakes. As soon as they are up next to me I start to slow down to be rid of it as soon as possible. They had barely passed when they lost control and skidded in right in front of me (and over the whole highway). If I hadn't slowed in as fast as I dared I wouldn't had a chance to avoid them and luckily for them they stayed out of the barrier.
The couple didn't say anything more about time but thanked me honestly for the safe driving and tipped well (tip not standard in Sweden).
THINK before driving and expect the unexpected.
Thanks Casey for spreading the word about sane driving.
I have driven for a living most of my life. Now I don't even want to get in my car. No matter how good of a driver I am, it just takes one idiot to end my life. More than once I have said "NO". Some things just aren't worth the risk. Nobody can make me risk my life.
Definitely have to be careful. A tow truck driver here in western Oregon lost his life when a semi didn’t get over.
I live in Canada and they say studded tires only work until -15 Celsius which is 5 degrees Fahrenheit. That is what I am told by the tire shop I go to. They say studded tires is a waste of money. I agree with you Casey 100%. It is to bad that you can not charge for everyone lying to you. You put yourself in a very dangerous position for nothing. Just driving there and back put you in a dangerous position.
As someone who runs them, they make a massive difference and I will continue to run them every winter
@@CaseyLaDelle I am not disagreeing with you. I am just explaining what I was told. I run with winter tires but they do not have holes for studs.
I dont blame you for not taking the job, that looked a dangerous situation x
good call,the highway is crazy
As long as the passenger was safe, I would never even have gone out with those driving conditions. You could have endangered the safety of a lot of other innocent drivers
Durning a snow storm around here if you ditch your vehicle they just leave it till the next day after the plows have been through.
You have a little girl, your #1 priority is to get home to her alive and in one piece. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to put on their reflexlite coat and and get in the wind. Cars are cheap, little girls (and boys) growing up without their daddy, is not cheap.
Nice clickbait🤣🤣 you totally got me and it's even your old truck! Great video very educational, and good call. Another successful job well done! 👏
The video that picture is from is ready to go and waiting to be uploaded. Just waiting on the lawyers to give the ok...
Driving through Italy one winter a drive that normally took seven hours, it was minus 8°c (17.6°F) when it started to rain, the whole road turned to slick ice, I saw so many accidents that day, the oddest was two semis from the same company that had gone off the road into a ditch and the second one was sitting squarely on top of the first, 16 hours it took with 45 passengers on board my coach, but we all arrived safely at our destination.
My friend was killed hooking a car on a clear sunny dry day on the shoulder of a multi lane highway. Trooper left him, another vehicle swerved to make an off ramp lost control and hit him. People just dont pay attention anymore
Good call. You are the one to make that choice, not anyone else.