Rhode Island: Most drivers fail to obey ‘Move Over’ law

In Rhode Island, drivers are required to change lanes, or at least slow down, when a state trooper, tow truck or Department of Transportation Vehicle is pulled over and has their lights on.The law is meant to ensure the safety of those emergency workers – and those they’re helping – but state police say most cars just speed on through.

Dozens of vehicles are pulled over each day on highways across the state. While drivers may worry about how much the stop is going to cost them – the trooper worries whether this stop is going to cost him his life. Rhode Island State Police Corporal Dave Bassignani has had his share of close calls, twice even being hit by drivers who didn’t move over.

“Instead of moving to the left and giving us more room, they started drifting right, and luckily I warned my partner just before they struck us in the rear,” he recalled. Thankfully, both Bassignani and his partner were inside their cruiser when it happened, only suffering minor bumps and bruises.

Those types of crashes are a danger not only to first responders, but also to the drivers in the car that was pulled over. Bassignani said when they were hit, it drove their cruiser 15 to 20 feet right into the back of the vehicle they had stopped.