New York: Should the Move Over Law be changed?

You may already know when you see a police, construction or emergency vehicle with flashing lights on the side of the highway you move over a lane. It's a state law, but why aren't all vehicles part of the law?

If you're stranded on the highway waiting for help, wouldn't you also want drivers to move over? A viewer asked Pat Taney that for this week's Good Question report. Glenn Lever who lives in Irondequoit and used to driver tractor trailers says: "It would make sense to me to have the law written so we move over for any obstruction in the right hand lane."

Pat asked state Senator Joe Robach, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee, if that's possible.

Taney: "What about all cars?"

Robach: "it's certainly something we'll take a look at."

When the move over law was first enacted, it included only police vehicles. The law has been expanded to include all emergency vehicles, tow trucks, essentially those with flashing lights on the side of the highway.

If you have to pull over and are alone on the highway, Lever worries, there's no law to protect you. We learned, expanding the law even further will be tricky.

"Service personnel that are trained received training on where to put vehicles how to park, how to make themselves more visible." Said Brian Badswell, with A.A.A. of Western NY.

"For your average motorist they don't have that training to know exactly how to park or make themselves visible which makes it that much harder to legislate." Badswell said.

That could create a legal loophole, meaning a ticket or fine could easily be tossed out in court. But even so, Senator Robach left us with this: