Every single day across the United States, thousands of tow truck operators, police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, highway safety crews, and other roadside responders step out onto the shoulders of busy highways to assist others. They respond in moments of crisis, changing tires, recovering vehicles, providing medical care, or redirecting traffic, all while cars and trucks fly by, often at high speeds. These brave men and women knowingly risk their lives to help strangers. And their families live with a quiet, constant fear that one day, they won’t come home.

On July 2, 2025, that fear became a devastating reality for the family and coworkers of Daniel “DJ” Ortiz, a 24-year-old tow truck operator in New Jersey. While helping a disabled vehicle on the shoulder of Route 287, DJ was struck by a reckless driver who failed to obey the Move Over Law. DJ had his lights flashing. He was clearly visible. He was doing everything right. And still, a driver made the selfish choice to use the shoulder to get around traffic and took DJ’s life in the process. His family, his coworkers at Ron & Sons Towing, and an entire industry are left shattered by a tragedy that never should have happened. But DJ isn’t the only one. This is happening to roadside workers across the country every single month. The death toll keeps rising, but no one is listening.

If we continue down this road of silence and inaction, more lives will be lost. The Move Over Law exists in all 50 states, but laws mean nothing without enforcement, real penalties, and public understanding. Right now, reckless drivers are walking away with little more than a traffic ticket, even when their actions result in death. Families are burying their loved ones while the people who killed them go home. It’s a disgrace. Roadside workers are being treated as disposable. Their deaths are seen as accidents instead of preventable acts of negligence. But if we act, if we raise our voices together, we can save lives. We can demand mandatory enforcement, increased fines, public service announcements, and stronger criminal charges for violators. We can make the Move Over Law something every driver knows, fears, and respects, just like seat belts, DUIs, and school zone rules.

Now is the time to act because we cannot afford to lose another DJ. His death must be the line in the sand. Tow truck drivers, police, fire, EMS, DOT—they are not statistics. They are fathers, sons, daughters, mothers, best friends. They are people who deserve to go home after every shift. DJ deserved to live. He deserved a future. If we wait, more families will be destroyed. More names will be added to a list that shouldn’t exist.

Let DJ’s story be the one that wakes this country up. Sign the petition. Share it. Talk about it. Demand change. Justice for DJ isn’t just about one young man. It’s about protecting every single person who puts on a vest, straps into a truck, and steps onto the side of the road to help someone else.