South Dakota: Trooper death, holidays prompts 'move over' reminder

With winter weather imminent and the prospect of more people traveling next week for the Thanksgiving holidays, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind people of their duty to move over and slow down when passing any vehicle displaying amber or yellow flashing lights.

It is, after all, the law.

The Move over Law was enacted in South Dakota in 2003. Yet many drivers are still unaware of the law or refuse to comply with it, according to Capt. Jay Evenson.

The law is aimed at protecting vehicles stopped on the shoulder of the road from being hit by passing vehicles. These include law enforcement, emergency response vehicles, service vehicles (tow trucks, utility lineman, etc.) and motorists experiencing mechanical trouble.

The law is as follows:

• Motorists on Interstates and other highways, with two or more lanes traveling in the same direction as the stopped vehicle, must merge into the lane farthest from the stopped vehicle and proceed with caution, unless otherwise directed.
• On two lane highways, motorists must slow to a speed that is at least 20 mph less than the posted speed limit or 5 mph when the speed limit is posted at 20 mph or less and proceed with caution, unless otherwise directed.

A violation of this law is is punishable by a fine of $200 and 60 days in jail.