Tow truck drivers killed on highways — the invisible profession risking their lives for you
When your car breaks down on the motorway, you call for help and wait. The tow truck operator arrives, steps out, sets up cones and warning lights — and starts working metres away from lorries passing at 130 km/h.
What you don't know is that this person has a fatality risk 15 times higher than workers in any other private industry.
The numbers nobody talks about
A study by NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) analysed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that 191 tow truck workers were killed on the job between 2011 and 2016 in the United States alone. That's an annual rate of 42.9 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers — compared to just 2.9 per 100,000 for all other industries.
The nonfatal injury rate is equally alarming: 204.2 per 10,000 workers — more than double the average for all industries.
Motor vehicle incidents account for 64% of all tow truck worker deaths. These aren't freak accidents. They're the predictable result of working on the edge of high-speed traffic every single day.
It's the same across Europe
Spain, 2024: According to the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico), 5 tow truck operators and 2 road maintenance workers were killed in hit-and-run or impact incidents while working on Spanish roads. The Spanish tow truck industry association REAC documented that these numbers are likely undercounted because police reports classify killed operators simply as "pedestrians", making them invisible in the statistics.
Germany, 2024-2025: At least 3 Pannenhelfer (breakdown assistants) were killed on motorways in less than two years:
- A2 near Magdeburg — ADAC breakdown assistant killed, truck driver fled the scene (hit-and-run)
- A9 — another operator killed by an HGV. A criminal order was issued.
- A4 near Gera (August 30, 2025) — a 38-year-old breakdown assistant was crushed by a trailer that detached while he was repairing a truck. He died at the scene. The motorway was closed for nearly five hours.
Ulli Richter, a 60-year-old tow truck operator, told reporters he lost two colleagues in a single year. A German newspaper headline read: "Der Tod schleppt mit" — death rides along with the tow truck.
Germany recorded 2,770 road deaths in 2024 and 2,814 in 2025 (+2%). There is no separate statistical category for killed breakdown assistants — the same invisibility problem as everywhere else.
Romania: 1,293 people died on Romanian roads in 2025 and over 1,300 in 2024. With 81 road deaths per million inhabitants (EU average: 45), Romania has one of the deadliest road networks in Europe — only Bulgaria is worse. The top killer roads — DN1 (90-100 deaths/year), DN7 (80-90), DN6 ("the road of death") — are national roads with no hard shoulder, where tow truck operators work literally in live traffic.
Why it keeps happening
- Drivers don't slow down. Despite "Move Over" laws in many countries, compliance is poor. Drivers pass breakdown sites at full speed.
- Distracted driving. Smartphones are the number one cause of motorway lane drifts that hit roadside workers.
- Invisible workers. Tow truck operators often can't use emergency lighting (blue or red rotating beacons) that police and fire services use. They're harder to spot.
- No proper statistics. In most European countries, killed tow truck operators are recorded as "pedestrians hit on road" — indistinguishable from jaywalkers. No specific tracking means no specific action.
What tow truck operators are asking for
Across Europe, industry associations are demanding:
- Emergency vehicle lighting for tow trucks actively working on motorways
- Mandatory lane closures when a tow truck is operating on a high-speed road
- Impact attenuator vehicles stationed behind the work zone (standard in some countries, not in others)
- Proper statistical recording of roadside worker fatalities as a separate category
- Enforcement of Move Over laws with real penalties
In Spain, the Alianza de Auxilio en Carretera (Roadside Assistance Alliance) took a Parliamentary motion to force the DGT to start counting tow truck operator deaths properly. The motion passed in June 2025. The REAC (Red de Empresas de Auxilio en Carretera) ran their "Ni uno más" (Not one more) campaign, draping black ribbons on tow trucks across the country.
What you can do as a driver
- Slow down when you see a tow truck working on the hard shoulder or a closed lane.
- Move over to the next lane if safe to do so. Give them space.
- Put your phone away. Distraction kills roadside workers.
- If your own car breaks down, stay behind the crash barrier and let the operator work. Don't stand in the traffic zone.
Every time you call for roadside assistance, someone risks their life to get you out of trouble. The least we can do is know what they're facing.
Related reading
- How much does towing cost in Europe?
- Tow truck types, prices and business guide
- Electric car towing guide — what you need to know
Sources: NIOSH — "Largely overlooked: Report details high death, injury rates among tow truck workers" (Safety+Health Magazine, 2019), DGT Spain — Road Safety Balance 2024, La Moncloa (10/01/2025), REAC — Red de Empresas de Auxilio en Carretera, MDR Sachsen-Anhalt — ADAC-Pannenhelfer A2 Magdeburg, MDR Thüringen — Pannenhelfer A4 Gera (30/08/2025), Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) — Unfallbilanz 2024/2025, Poliția Română — Accidente rutiere 2024, Europa Liberă Romania, Newsweek Romania, European Parliament — Road Safety Statistics 2024.