A Bay City truck driver received a national award for saving the life of a toddler wandering along U.S. 31 in the Ludington area last week. The Truckload Carriers Association named truck driver Dallas Steiger a Highway Angel after he pulled over and led the toddler to safety outside the child's home in Mason County's Sherman Township on Aug. 31. Steiger, who drives for Quick-Way Inc. in Ludington, was heading north on U.S. 31 when he spotted the child on the southbound side of the two-lane highway walking close to traffic.

“It was a toddler standing on the side of the road -- like, his feet were almost on the side of the white line and he had a little toy lawnmower with him,” Steiger said.

He quickly brought his truck to a stop alongside the road, ran across traffic, moved the child safely away from the roadway and walked up back up his driveway. Steiger said the boy's mother was shaken when she realized her son got outside and nearly walked into the road. She later called Quick-Way Inc. to express her gratitude for Steiger's action to save her son.

“I would hope that anybody would react just like that,” Steiger said.

Nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have received the Highway Angel award since its inception in August 1997. The award honors exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage from truck drivers on the job.