Connecticut: State Police urge motorists to ‘move over’
Police work is dangerous, but one hazard in particular doesn’t get much TV treatment or public attention. State Police face a literal brush with death whenever they make motor vehicle stops on the side of busy highways, and seven Connecticut troopers have been killed in the line of duty over the years at motor vehicle stops.
This week State Police are promoting their “Move Over and Slow Down’’ campaign, urging motorists to slow down and to move into another lane, if possible, whenever they see a cruiser with its blue lights flashing at the side of the road.
Next week they plan to follow up that effort with increased enforcement of a 2009 state law setting a $181 fine for motorists who don’t comply.
“The goal is to gain the public’s awareness and compliance of the Move Over Law, and to issue zero tickets,’’ said Trooper FC Kelly Grant, the Connecticut State Police spokeswoman. “Lives are more important.’’
Last November, a Bridgeport man was arrested after his vehicle — traveling at speeds as high as 85 mph — came within inches of hitting four people, including two state troopers, on the shoulder of Interstate 95. Grant described the incident as a “hair-raising experience” in which no one was seriously injured.
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