Alabama: Emergency responders gather again to promote Move Over Law
Emergency response drivers lined up in a parking along Memorial Parkway to raise awareness for the Move Over Law. The group of drivers did it once before in February, following days of ice around Huntsville.
“We want everyone to know this is a law, this is a problem, and all we’re asking for is to let us go home,” said William Shelt, with Lappdog Towing. “Just recently we had a roadside assistance person killed in Birmingham, we want to make sure it doesn’t happen anywhere,” said Madison County Commission chairman Dale Strong, in attendance.
Many of the drivers say they are grazed on a regular basis, and AAA says a roadside assistance worker is killed every six days.
An additional problem brought up at the rally, the low penalization for those who disregard the law.
“The fine for the Slow Down, Move Over law is $25,” said Shelt. “It’s sad to think we put ur lives on the line to save everyone else’s family for a $25 dollar fine.”
The act, implemented in 2009, says drivers must move over or slow down to 15 miles per hour below the speed limit if emergency vehicles are on the side of the road, for the safety of the emergency worker. First offenses are $25, second offenders are fined $50 and third time offenses cost $100.
The group is working to formally create a union, the Tennessee Valley Emergency Responders, to fund support for responders’ families in the case of injury or death.
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