WATERTOWN, S.D. (KELO.com) — South Dakota’s tow driver community is in mourning after the death of a driver in Watertown.
Hundreds of tow operators took part in a funeral procession Thursday morning to honor Dale Jones, who was killed on the job on Saturday. Police say the procession was about two-and-a-half miles long.
Jones was well-respected and left a legacy that his friends say they will not forget any time soon.
Watch video of the procession here.
Police say Jones, 47, was helping remove a vehicle from a ditch when a car lost control and struck him on the side of the road. The crash is still under investigation.
Law enforcement and friends of Jones’ are stressing the importance of ‘move over’ laws in the wake of the crash. Watertown Assistant Police Chief Tim Toomey called deaths like Jones’ “preventable.”
Shannon Nordstrom of Nordstrom’s Automotive issued a call to action on KELO’s Under The Hood on Thursday.
“If somebody is off to the side [of the road], you’ve got to pay attention,” Nordstrom said. “Pull over; give that situation the space that it needs, the respect that it needs. Because that quick it can change.”
Jones was laid to rest in Wessington, South Dakota Thursday afternoon.
(Josh Weyh, KWAT and Troy VanDusen, KXLG contributed to this report.)
