MOVE OVER MISSISSIPPIANS

Several new state laws that went into effect on July 1 will impact the everyday lives of many Mississippians. One law requires motorists to move over at least one lane when possible to make room for emergency vehicles, state troopers or tow trucks that are responding to accidents or breakdowns.

“I think the new law will be beneficial once people are knowledgeable about it” said Joe Phillips, Bolivar County Fire Coordinator.

“We sometimes have had problems with people not moving over,” Phillips said. “There have been incidents when we were on our way to respond to a fire and the speed of traffic is the same or to slow.

“Some people respect us and move out of the way, and some people don’t,” he said. “Once people understand the law or get a ticket for violating it, this law will help emergency response persons out a lot.”

“I did not think there was a problem with motorists moving over for emergency vehicles,” said Joanna Smith, a Cleveland resident.

“If it has been a problem with people moving over, I think it’s great that they’ve made it a law,” Smith said. “When there’s an emergency taking place, time is critical. Every minute is precious.”

Mississippi joins more than three dozen other states that have enacted move over laws requiring drivers to slow down or move over to other lanes of traffic, where possible, when they see law enforcement officers or emergency personnel along highways, according to the Associated Press.

“I don’t think it’s been a big problem here in Cleveland,” said Capt. Danny Oswalt with the Cleveland Police Department. “We have seen some problems with people not moving over for highway patrol officers. It can be a dangerous situation when motorists don’t mover over. A lot of officers have been hit by motorists who failed to move over.

“The move over law is definitely a good idea for the officer’s and the public’s safety,” Oswalt said. “If an officer has a car stopped and the car in front of it will not move over, they can call in for another officer to pull that car over.”

For years, Mississippi has had an often-ignored law that requires drivers to make way for emergency vehicles that are moving; the new law requires drivers to make way for the emergency vehicles that are stopped.

The new law means a motorist passing an ambulance, fire truck or other vehicle on the side of the road must slow down and yield the right of way by changing lanes, keeping at least one empty lane where possible. If a lane change is impossible, a driver must slow down and be prepared to stop, if needed, to prevent collisions.

Violators may be fined up to $250 for failing to comply and up to $1,000 if there is damage to the official vehicle or injury to any driver or passenger of an official vehicle.

“We really haven’t sat down to talk about how we plan to enforce it,” he said. “We are going to see how things go and for the first month or so we will be writing warnings for those who violate that law.”

Another law allows people to put security freezes on their consumer records to try to combat identity theft.

The law says a consumer whose personal information has been illegally used by others must file a police report, and then may send a copy of that report to a consumer reporting agency to put a freeze on file. The agency may charge up to $10 to carry out the request.

Yet another will require elementary and secondary students to work up a sweat at school to try to combat childhood obesity.

They are among the dozens of bills that legislators passed, and Gov. Haley Barbour signed, during the three-month session that ended in early April, according to the Associate Press. Most new state laws took effect on July 1, which began the new state budget year.

Some of the other new laws will further tighten abortion restrictions by requiring each abortion provider to perform a sonogram and give the pregnant woman a chance to listen to a fetal heartbeat.

Laws eliminating the “no child, no crime” defense used by some people arrested in stings where undercover operatives pose as children to catch sexual predators.

Laws authorizing several new vanity car tag designs, including those with the slogans, “Mississippi, Home of the Blues,” “In God We Trust” or “Thank a Teacher Today.”

Laws that will also allow the Mississippi Department of Transportation, city and county governments to build toll roads in places where free alternative routes exist.