STATE MOVE OVER LAW NOW HAS TEETH
Motorists who pass emergency vehicles stopped along the side of the road and don’t make an effort to move away from them or slow down may have the unpleasant experience of seeing flashing blue lights in their own rearview mirror. The potential fine could be even more unpleasant.
Two years ago Tennessee quietly joined 29 other states by passing a “Move Over Law” that creates a safety zone to protect police, firefighters and other emergency personnel and requires motorists to move away or slow down. The law also applies to road maintenance crews and tow trucks when their lights are flashing. In effect, when traveling on a four-lane highway, like Rhea County Highway, motorists are required to move into the lane away from the emergency vehicle, if the motorist can do so safely. If motorists cannot shift lanes safely, they are required to “reduce the speed of the vehicle, maintaining a safe speed for road conditions.”
Tennessee Highway Trooper Ben Harrison works primarily in Rhea County. Last year he issued 45 citations to drivers for violating the Move Over Law.
A few months ago he was making a traffic stop by Rhea County High School. A woman from Alabama veered out of the fast lane and headed right for the car where Harrison was writing out the citation.
“She was making a beeline right for me,” Harrison said. “I jumped onto the hood of that girl’s car, and the other woman, she was about even with the rear of the car before she veered away. I was scared…that was a close one.”
Harrison let the first motorist go, chased down the Alabama woman and issued her a citation.
On the back of Harrison’s patrol car is a bumper sticker that reads “Move Over. Save a Life in Memory of Trooper Todd Larkin.” Larkin was killed in July 2005—one year after the passage of the law—when a tractor-trailer ran off the road and struck and killed him instantly. In fact, three police officers have been struck and killed in Tennessee since the law was passed.
“A lot of people say they never heard of the law,” Harrison said. “I tell them it’s been in effect since July 2004, but it’s always been common courtesy. How would they like to come out here and do this job with cars and trucks whizzing by? We’ve lost three officers; that’s three too many. I don’t want to lose another.”
The fact that not many motorists are aware of the law will likely be changing.
The penalty for violating the Move Over Law was a maximum fine of $50…that is up until last month. In July the penalty increased to a fine of $100 to $500 and up to 30 days in jail.
Between 1995 and 2004, 143 law enforcement officers across the country were struck and killed by vehicles, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety.
Between July 13, 2004, and April 14, 2006, Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers issued 1,817 citations to drivers who failed to yield or move over for emergency vehicles.