NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Communities across the U.S. are accustomed to solemn parades of police motorcycles, cruisers and fire trucks on the day of the funeral for a police officer or firefighter who dies in the line of duty.

But residents of this northern Boston suburb were astonished Wednesday when hundreds of tow trucks from New England assembled to pay respects to tow driver Daniel Coady Jr. and accompany his casket atop a flatbed tow truck to St. Michael’s Catholic Church for his funeral Mass.

The 41-year-old Coady died last week when a car struck him while he was loading a disabled vehicle onto his tow truck. The car’s driver was charged with drunken driving and vehicular homicide.

Coady , married with two sons, was remembered by fellow drivers and friends as a family man who loved trucks and helping others. “He liked a lot of trucks. Big trucks, little trucks, tow trucks,” said friend Steve Case.

Word quickly spread on social media about the circumstances of Coady’s death, setting in motion a plan for drivers across New England to show up in their trucks for his funeral. Pallbearers wore black shirts with the name of his company, “Coady’s Towing,” emblazoned on the back.

“There was a Facebook post, something about how he’s just a tow truck driver,” said driver Pat Robb, a close family friend, at the funeral service. “But he wasn’t. You could see that by all the people here today.”

Robb added: “I thought, the next time somebody says that to me, or I hear somebody say it … I’ll look that person in the eye and say, ‘Yep, that’s what I am. But tell me, who did you help today?’”

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data reports that injury and death rates among emergency responders, including tow truck drivers, are more than twice the national average for other occupations. The Statewide Towing Association estimated a tow truck driver is killed somewhere in the U.S. every six days.

“People need to be more aware,” said Gerry Cassidy, a friend of Coady’s. “If we can learn anything from this senseless tragedy, put down the phones, move over (for tow trucks) and please pay attention. This didn’t have to happen.”

The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass., contributed the details for this story.