Tow truck driver hit, killed while trying to assist at crash scene in Andover

ANDOVER, Mass. — An investigation is underway in Andover after a tow truck operator was struck and killed while trying to assist at a crash scene on I-495 south Wednesday night.

Massachusetts State Police said the operator, who has been identified as 41-year-old North Andover man Danny Coady, was standing next to the left side of his truck in the breakdown lane loading a vehicle onto his flatbed when a Pontiac G6 slammed into an unoccupied vehicle in the breakdown lane.

The Pontiac then crashed into the left side of the tow truck, and then hit the operator. It then became disabled in the right travel lane and was hit by a Hyundai driving past the original crash site.

Coady was taken to Saint’s Memorial Hospital in Lowell where he died.

Coady worked for the business for more than two decades and friends say there wasn't any job he couldn't do.

"It was a tough phone call to get at 12:30 in the morning," said Robert Sheehan. "There's nothing that Danny could have done or any guy could have done to prevent what happened."

Sheehan says drivers are shaken and worried that the yellow flashing lights on their trucks aren't enough to protect them from other drivers.

The other tow truck operator, who was identified as a 44-year-old Lawrence man, was on top of the flatbed helping the other operator when the truck was hit. He fell from the vehicle at the moment of impact and was injured. He was taken to Lowell General Hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

"My reaction was ugh, another guy. It's - people don't realize it, but there's one tower throughout the nation that gets killed every week," said William Johnson, Statewide Towing Association.

Johnson - the head of the state's towing association - says it's time for a new awareness campaign and he wants to work with police departments to strengthen the Move Over Law.

"The fines - I believe - need to be stiffened, and there needs to be more money put into the budge for the state to let them motoring public know that this is a work zone, you need to slow down," said Johnson.

The driver of the Pontiac, a 28-year-old Lawrence woman, was taken to Lowell General to be treated for serious injuries.

The driver of the Hyundai, a 26-year-old Lawrence woman, was uninjured.

The crash is under investigation and no charges have been filed at this time.

State police shut down a portion of the highway for about three hours for the investigation, and traffic had been rerouted onto I-93 south.

The highway has since reopened.

It was snowing at the time and police are still trying to determine if weather was a factor.

Cox Media Group