By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Editor’s Note: This is part one in a planned series exploring the impact of Troy Caldwell’s death on his community and the need for greater roadway safety.
Traveling the highways and byways of the United States without encountering some sort of light, whether fixed or flashing, is virtually impossible. Traffic lights, illuminated traffic signs, even business signs, shine during the daylight hours and break up the darkness after the sun goes down. They are ever present, competing for the attention of a driver who is ideally focused on determining potential dangers as they rush from one destination to another.
This highlights the genesis of the problem; the fact that it is almost impossible to drive without distractions. Compounding this is the (unfortunately) ever-present lure of cellular phones and ‘media centers’ built into modern cars that are designed to limit distractions, but all too often provide even more. But regardless of whether it is lights, texts, or even a digital map, we do become distracted.
And worse, we become desensitized. All those lights unfortunately can just blend into the visual ‘background noise’ of our commutes. We see them, but they fail to completely register sometimes. Still, whether we focus on them or not, those warning lights are there for a reason. In the case of flashing emergency lights, that reason is to keep both the traveler and the emergency responder safe – but unfortunately they don’t always work well enough.
On September 25, 2024, Troy Caldwell was answering a call to pick up a disabled vehicle on I-64 in Bath County Kentucky. The call should have been no different than the hundreds of other calls just like it that Caldwell had successfully completed; but unfortunately, that call would be his last. As he was stepping down from the bed of his truck, a semi passed near his vehicle, too close and too fast, and Caldwell was pulled from his truck and killed.
“He was a good friend of mine, and someone I had worked with for years,” Bubba Johnson, of Bubba’s Towing and Recovery in Olive Hill, said of Caldwell.
Johnson said he had known Caldwell for years, and that Caldwell had been in the towing business for thirty years or more. He knew the job and how to do it safely.
“The day he got killed he was just working a simple call,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t a wreck or anything, he was just picking up a vehicle that had broken down. He was still on the bed of the rollback and the eighteen-wheeler just pulled him off and drug him down the road. It never even contacted the vehicle, just Troy.”
Johnson said the accident was heartbreaking and tragic, but was made more so by Caldwell’s reputation.
“Troy was the safest guy you would ever meet,” Johnson said of his friend. “If you were going to have a safety meeting for your company, he was the guy you set up from and told everyone to be like him. He was always in full safety gear and super cautious. And he had been doing it for thirty years, so he knew what he was doing when he went out on a call. He had a flawless record, but that didn’t do any good.
“I thought that if the safest man that you know can still get run over, then what about the rest of us?”
Johnson said those thoughts weighed heavily on his mind. He was concerned about his colleagues and himself, but also for the future of his 22 year old son who also operates a recovery vehicle. The tragic, preventable death of his friend and what he saw as the need for added safety to all emergency vehicles on the road are what led him to advocate for Troy’s Law. The law, if passed, will allow tow truck drivers to install rear facing blue lights, in addition to their other safety lights, to increase visibility and enhance safety.
“Other states have adopted this blue light law with a lot of success,” Johnson said. “They are going to be rear facing only, and won’t be run by themselves.”
Because of this, there’s no chance of anyone thinking a police officer is trying to pull them over when a tow truck pulls up behind them. But, Johnson said, for vehicles approaching the tow trucks from the rear, “it gives the illusion that there might be a cop there, so automatically the driver is going to pump the brakes. And even if they can’t change lanes, it will make them take a better assessment of what is going on.”
Johnson said he has encountered some opposition from lawmakers to Troy’s Law, but he has also received phenomenal support from others, most notably State Senator Robin Webb, State Representative Patrick Flannery, and State Representative Richard White. Community support has also been phenomenal and is constantly growing, he said.
“Everyone is coming together on this,” Johnson said.
Johnson wants to honor Troy Caldwell’s memory, and the best way he knows to do it is to do everything possible to help protect his family, friends, and coworkers. And if one life is saved, a single needless death prevented, Troy’s Law will do just that.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
