Massachusetts: Police reminding drivers to move over on highways
Sgt. Michael Miskell is a 23 year veteran of the state police. He's been hit twice while sitting on the side of the road. "I often have to remind myself when I'm on the highway system...I'm simply standing on a white line, not a white wall," he said.
On the Mass. Pike in early October, a driver ran into a cruiser and the trooper ended up in the hospital. The same thing happened again last week and both drivers were cited for not moving over. The move over law was enacted in 2009. FOX25 Investigates rode along with Miskell to see what it's like when someone doesn't move over. While in a construction zone, a car flew by, despite the police lights flashing, and Miskell pulled the car over.
The Massachusetts DOT said in the first full year of the law, police statewide wrote 4,200 tickets for violating the move over law. The number has tapered over the last few years and in 2014 they wrote 2,900.
Police aren’t the only people at risk though. Earlier this year a tow truck driver was hit and killed while working on the side of the Mass. Pike. Pat Todisco owns one of the bigger towing companies in Boston and said more enforcement is needed.
"I understand the enforcement is tough. You'd have to pull over 9 out of 10 vehicles that's going by," he said.
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