The Non-Legislative Motion Approved in Congress Protects Our Roadside Assistance Operators
At REAC, Network of Roadside Assistance Companies, we enthusiastically welcome news that marks a turning point for the safety of our brave roadside assistance operators. The National Roadside Assistance Alliance, of which we are an active member, has achieved a fundamental milestone: the approval in the Congress of Deputies of a Non-Legislative Motion (PNL) urging the Government to take urgent measures to reduce the number of roadside assistance tow-truck drivers struck by vehicles.
This is no small achievement. The leading roadside assistance companies came together in REAC with a clear objective: to foster productive alliances and a system of mutual collaboration that allows us to compete in today's market and secure the continuity of our companies in the future. It is through this unity and the strength of the Roadside Assistance Alliance that we can drive initiatives as crucial as this one.
A Necessary Battle and a Commitment Fulfilled
Concern about the rise in roadside assistance tow-truck drivers being struck by vehicles was one of the Alliance's priority objectives for 2025. After painstaking work collecting signatures and gathering support from numerous insurance and assistance companies, formal petitions were submitted to the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT). Faced with the lack of response and the total lack of interest shown by the DGT, the Alliance did not give up. We approached the parliamentary groups to push for action to raise awareness, ensure a real count of victims and, most importantly, reduce the number of people struck by vehicles, which our sector sadly suffers.
It was the VOX parliamentary group, at the request of the Roadside Assistance Alliance, that tabled this Non-Legislative Motion. Yesterday, 16 June, the PNL with file number 161/001991 was debated and finally approved in the Road Safety Committee of the Congress of Deputies, with 17 votes in favour, 15 against and 1 abstention.
Key Measures to Save Lives
The approved PNL urges the Government to adopt the following crucial measures:
- Awareness Campaigns: Launch a media awareness campaign by the DGT, aimed at all drivers and road users, with the goal of reducing accidents affecting our staff and road upkeep and maintenance workers.
- Maximum Visibility and Safety: Ensure maximum visibility and safety of tow trucks through appropriate signalling, as well as the provision and mandatory use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by roadside assistance operators.
- Technology and Innovation: Make progress on connectivity and the use of innovative technologies, including the implementation of VI6 advance accident warning devices and integration with digital applications that can alert users to emergency situations in real time. This also includes the implementation of connected cones and the V2 IoT signal to strengthen the safety of road upkeep and maintenance workers.
- Improved Road Signage: Optimise road signage to alert users to the activity of roadside assistance operators.
- Digital Risk Communication: Promote the implementation of digital communication systems for unforeseen driving hazards ("obstacle" events) in GPS navigators and driving support devices.
- Reliable Count of Victims: Urge the competent public authorities to make it mandatory to keep a reliable count of accident victims among roadside assistance workers. (At present, the DGT is not carrying out a real count of victims.)
An Ongoing Commitment to Safety and Training
As part of REAC, the National Roadside Assistance Alliance is a representative body that brings together more than 2,500 companies, 12,000 tow trucks and 11,000 workers in Spain. Road safety is part of our very essence, and it is not acceptable that the sector itself has to demand and drive actions that should be part of the DGT's work programme.
At REAC, we offer our members a wide range of services completely free of charge, including specialised training to ensure the safety and professionalism of our teams. We understand the complexity of regulations in Spain, especially regarding prevention, and therefore we provide:
- Courses for Business Owners and Managers: So that our leaders have a thorough knowledge of their occupational health and safety obligations and responsibilities, with specific modules on legislation in the roadside assistance sector and on integrating prevention into business management.
- Training for Operators: Courses differentiated by qualification level (Level 1, Level 2 and Highly Qualified Level 3) covering everything from basic light-vehicle transport operations to highly complex recoveries, operating self-loading cranes and recovering vehicles classified under ADR.
- Courses for Dispatchers: Specific training covering a description of the roadside assistance sector, risk assessment, how to carry out jobs safely and how to establish specific coordination protocols.
- Safety and Environmental Training: Courses on transferring flammable liquids, handling them and managing them as waste, as well as technical support for vehicle repairs involving electrical and electronic problems.
As Xavier Martí, spokesperson for the Roadside Assistance Alliance, pointed out, "we are delighted that this initiative has finally been approved and we will work to ensure that it is implemented by the Government and the DGT, given its enormous importance for all our families, workers and companies". At REAC, we join in this celebration and reiterate our unwavering commitment to protecting our professionals. This is just one more step on our path towards safer and more recognised roadside assistance.