CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former Charlotte medic is using a crash on Interstate 77 that nearly took his life 10 years ago to raise awareness about the dangers of unsafe driving.
Tim Hayes was responding to a minor accident on the interstate when he was struck by a fully loaded tractor-trailer, two SUVs and his ambulance. "Whenever I woke up, I was laying in the snow. I flew over the guardrail. Both of my legs were gone. It looked like I stepped on a landmine, to be honest, with my one leg," said Tim Hayes.
He was rushed to a hospital but lost both of his legs.
Wednesday, Hayes reunited with other paramedics to remember that day and to call for drivers to obey North Carolina's "move over" law. It mandates drivers move over to put an empty lane between themselves and emergency workers.
Between January 2011 and October of 2012, more than 2,400 drivers were cited for not moving over.
Though Hayes is alive to see his children grow, he knows that things could have been different.
"I want them to just drive ... pay attention to the surroundings," said Hayes.
More than 140 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed since 2002 because they were struck by passing motorists.
WSOC
