TOLEDO, Ohio — An ALERT DAY plea from a plow driver: pay attention and share the road.
"The only thing we can ask is that the traveling public pay attention. If you see those flashing lights, give us room to work," said Ohio Department of Transportation plow driver Joshua Doughty.
ODOT said other cars have hit eight plows across Ohio in just the last week, and that includes northwest Ohio.
According to ODOT, just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, one of their trucks was going through an intersection near State Route 295 and Sylvania-Metamora Road in Berkey with the clear right of way. A car came through the intersection, slammed into the plow truck, backed up and then kept driving.
While the plow driver was uninjured, it's just the latest in a series of incidents that are adding to an already stressful job.
Doughty has been battling the elements to clear the roadways for nine years and he said almost every night he sees speeding or distracted driving, making his already difficult job even more nerve-wracking.
His request to the public when you're on the roadways, especially icy ones, is to put down the phone and ease your foot off the gas pedal so he doesn't have to look over his shoulder constantly when he's clearing the roads.
"Every time I'm out there, you see stuff that makes you say, 'Well, that was a close call,'" said Doughty. "I myself haven't had any kind of experiences like that yet, but with the traveling public, it's just a matter of time before something like that happens. You see people doing stuff that they aren't supposed to be doing when they're out there driving and you can assume that plays into why we're hit."
ODOT said so far none of their drivers have been hurt in any of these accidents and they want to keep it that way. They said that if you're on the roads and see a plow truck, make sure to give it extra space.
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