VIDEO ILLUSTRATES WHY DRIVERS SHOULD MOVE OVER WHEN THEY SEE LIGHTS

First responders and transportation officials are asking drivers to remember to move over for emergency vehicles parked on the side of road. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, careless driving led to at least 166 crashes and placed the lives of responders at risk between 2001 and 2006.

Hillsboro police officer Clint Chrz is passionate about asking drivers to move over or slow down when they see vehicles with sirens and lights. On Nov. 1, 2007, a Mercedes driver hit Chrz as he cited another driver for not moving over for a fellow officer on Highway 99 in Sherwood.

"It was the last stop of my day," Chrz said. "All I remember is a bang - a loud hit and I knew something bad had happened." Chrz ended up in the hospital and stayed home for one month. "I was sore for weeks after that, my whole body," he said.

On Friday, ODOT renewed its campaign to make the roads safer for responders by building a new, larger sign in Jantzen Beach that warns drivers to move over or slow down for emergency vehicles. That includes highway incident response vehicles. "I've had vehicles come up close, missing my mirror and missing me a couple of times," said ODOT Highway Incident Responder Mike Renault.

Oregon's "Move Over" law has been around five years, but ODOT admits it is not effective enough.

"Probably not. Again, we're here today to reinforce and help breathe life into this law," said ODOT Director Matt Garrett. Violators can be fined up to $355 but officers admit it can be hard to enforce because they still have to focus on other common traffic violations, such as speeding and running red lights.

Chrz is lucky he survived the hit. "You put yourself at risk everyday, and cars driving by don't realize that," he said. So does he have any lingering issues?

"My left hip still bothers me sometimes on the bone. But other than that, no. Just (a little) leery on the road," he said. Portland police say they have steadily increased enforcements over the last two years and cited a record 535 drivers in 2007. Elsewhere, Oregon State Police say they are not seeing a similar spike, mostly because they do not have enough troopers right now.