WAGONER, Okla. — The wife of the Muskogee tow truck operator who Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) said was killed in a crash on Saturday night is pleading with drivers to move over. OHP said the victim was hit by another vehicle while trying to assist a stranded motorist on the shoulder of US-69 just south of Wagoner.
“Move over, just, I know it’s not always easy, there may be a car next to you, but slow down,” said wife Chelsea Mills.
On Monday afternoon, FOX23 spoke with both the owner of the Red Beard’s Towing, Mack Parks, and the wife of the man who was killed, 31-year-old John Mills.
Both of them said something has to change to prevent more deaths moving forward.
“He would take off and help anybody, at any time, no matter what,” Mills said.
A relentless desire to help others is how John Mills’ wife described him.
The two, who married in April of last year, have a 15-month-old son, John Jackson Mills.
“All we can say right now, when he says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Dadda,’ is Daddy loves you because, I mean, what do you say?”
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OHP is still investigating the sequence of events that unfolded after a 9-1-1 call came in a little after 6:30 p.m. Saturday night.
According to Trooper Tim Parrish with the Traffic Homicide Unit, Mills was loading up a Tesla that had run out of power and was on the shoulder of the road when a car traveling Southbound in the outside lane struck the Tesla before hitting Mills and then striking the wrecker.
According to OHP, the 2006 Cadillac driven by a 76-year-old rolled, landing on its top. The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle.
According to OPH, he was treated and released from St. Francis Hospital in Muskogee for a head injury.
While the investigation is ongoing, Oklahoma’s move over law requires drivers approaching stationary vehicles displaying flashing lights, even motorists with hazard lights, to move into a lane that is not adjacent to the vehicle or slow down.
Parks, the owner of Red Beard’s Towing and John Mills’ former boss, had this message for drivers:
“No matter how much training we do if people won’t move over, and if we’re doing the right thing, it doesn’t do any good,” he explained.
“Just switching lanes or getting off your phone or slowing down, would save somebody’s life, it’s not worth it,” Parks added.
Parks said Mills was wearing a reflective safety vest that night and his emergency lights were activated.
According to 2021 Data from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety , an average of 24 emergency responders, which includes tow providers, are struck and killed by vehicles while working at the roadside each year. That means someone in this line of work is killed, on average, every other week.
For more information on Oklahoma’s Move Over Law, visit here.
The law also applies to cars pulled over with the hazard lights flashing.
For more information on what you can do to help the family, visit their GoFundMe page.
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