Startup business advocates for tow truck driver safety

BY PHIL HALL Phall@westfairinc.com

Salena Khan just graduated from Sacred Heart University with a degree in health sciences, and she quickly transitioned into entrepreneurship by launching Life on the Line, an endeavor with the mission of calling attention to tow truck driver safety.

Khan’s father owns Nelcon Towing and Recovery, with locations in five localities across Connecticut. In 2005, her father was on a highway shoulder putting a car on his flatbed when a tractor trailer sped by, blowing him from the truck bed and leaving him badly cut and in need of stitches in his leg.

In creating Life on the Line, Khan seeks to expand the concept of “first responder” to include tow truck drivers handling emergency calls — according to AAA, one tow truck driver on U.S. roads is killed every six days.

Khan lamented that many people were unaware of the risks that these drivers endure while doing their jobs, adding these people are also ignorant of the Move Over law which has been in effect since 2009 and requires highway drivers approaching any stationary emergency vehicles on the shoulder to slow down and, if possible, move over one lane if they are adjacent to the shoulder.

“Growing up in the industry, I was always made aware of it,” she said. “But people my age that are driving around, they have no idea what I’m talking about. It’s just not recognized.”

Part of Khan’s Life on the Line product line will include Lifesaver Lights for tow truck drivers to install on roadsides where they are working.

“I’m working with teammates and I’ll be selling those to the towing industry, so they can have some form of protection,” she said. “They’re not attached to our tow truck — they sit on top of their cones and they flash red and blue lights.”

Khan is also planning to sell shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts and vehicle decals from the e-commerce section of her Life on the Line website, which is still under construction. She has pledged a percentage of the profits will be donated to the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum’s survivor fund.

Khan is aiming to spread her company’s message and products across the U.S. and into Canada, with the goal of bringing down injuries and fatalities within the tow truck driver profession.

“I really believe that this can be a movement that brings not only the community together for a good cause, but also just has us all working together to help each other save each other’s lives and have each other’s backs,” she said.

While she viewed Life on the Line as a full-time job, she is also working with her family members in her father’s towing company.

“It kind of overlaps a little bit,” she said of her two jobs.

Khan’s progress with Life on the Line can be tracked on social media, with her “lifeonthelineco” accounts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.