Does your state have a "move over law"?

I really don’t know but I do get over whenever that situation arises. Just seems like common sense to me.

It is common sense, and I do think Minnesota has this law, too.

FL does. I actually didn’t know whether TN had it or not, now I know. I do move over typically, unless traffic makes it very difficult. I do what would be safest.

Yes we do (NY) and I don’t drive yet, but once I do, I’ll be certain to pay it very good attention. My sister’s boyfriend is a paramedic, and nothing pushes his buttons more than when people don’t move over while he’s attending to a patient on the side of the road! He’s had to THROW himself and patients into ditches to keep themselves from getting hit by people curiously craning their necks to see the accident and not paying attention to their driving. It’s awful.

Yup.

Yes, Delaware’s Move Over Law went into effect January 1, 2007 and last year SB 205, to enhance penalties for failing to “move over,” was signed into law by the Governor.

Do people actually get ticketed if they don’t move over? Aren’t the emergency Workers who are present pretty busy? Don’t get me wrong, I actually agree with having the law, I just would be surprised it is enforced often. I think of it as one of those laws on the books because people simply did not know to do it otherwise, they needed some sort of standard or expectation.

Yes, here’s PA’s:

The Steer Clear law, which went into effect Sept. 8, 2006, requires motorists to move into a lane that is not adjacent to an emergency response area. An emergency response area is an area on or near a road where services are being provided by police, sheriffs, coroners, medical examiners, firefighters, fire police, fire marshalls, rescue personnel, emergency medical service personnel, towing and recovery personnel, hazardous material response team members and/or highway construction and maintenance personnel. If drivers cannot move over because of traffic or other conditions, they must reduce their speed. In cases where law enforcement may not be present, the law allows road workers and emergency responders to report violations by motorists. Law enforcement may issue citations based on these reports. Failure to move over or slow down can result in a summary offense that carries a fine of up to $250. In addition, fines will be doubled for traffic violations occurring in work zones areas. If that violation leads to a worker being injured, a 90-day license suspension could result. (source)

Like others have said, it’s pretty much common sense and I’ve always done it. I move away from people that are on the side of the road broken down as well. Pretty much any time there is someone on the side of the road, I move over or slow down (if I can’t move over).

@JLeslie Law enforcement and emergency personnel have been killed while pulled over to the side of the road. They look after their own. Not all violators will ticketed or pursued but someone will find the time to track you down if you are reckless. In Delaware some move over violations are felonies.

@lillycoyote Again, I agree with the law. I don’t need the threat of the ticket to obey it. I was just curious how many tickets actually get handed out for breaking the rule. It isn’t like the cop on the side of the road can suddenly jump in his car and pursue the driver who broke the law. Reckless driving is always ticketable, I think basically at the discretion of the police officer practically.

Yes, we have it in Ohio. We have for as far back as I can remember, it was on my driver’s test.. so at least 10 years now. I didn’t know that it wasn’t a law everywhere. We switch lanes or accommodate toward the center if there is an emergency vehicle on the side of the road, and we also have to pull over and stop if we are sharing a road with an emergency vehicle that has its lights or sirens on. I assumed it was like that everywhere.

It is the law in Oregon. It wasn’t in Washington State, and I’m not sure now. There was a sign when crossing from Oregon into Washington that might’ve been trying to say that, but it was incomprehensibly worded, to me.

Sounds like another reason why police should not be giving tickets for minor speed offenses, to me. Now they’ll be messing with traffic even more by doing that.

It’s the law in California too. I always pull over ASAP.
What I hate is sometimes on my narrow little mountainy roads out here, there is nowhere to pull over so, drop offs, trees, no shoulders.
A few times I have just about stopped and they have zoomed around me. Scary!

@Coloma That is scary. The road leading to my house has no shoulder also, and parts of it are very curvy.

Yes.

@Coloma We have a “pull over” law for emergency vehicels, i.e., you must pull over na stop to let them by. But what @john65pennington is referring to is a law in some states to move out of the slow lane when a police car or ambulance is on the shoulder.

California doesn’t have that law, but given the number of CalTrans workers that have been killed recently ( 3 in 7 weeks), perhaps it would be a good idea.

No man not this law. But very good law.

According to http://www.moveoveramerica.com/ , every state except Hawaii has some kind of MOL, and Washington, DC doesn’t have one.

According to the above source, CA’s MOL was implemented in 2007.
Failure to comply can result in a $50 fine.

According to CA Vehicle Code Section 21809:

Stationary Emergency Vehicle or Tow Truck
Freeway: Stationary Vehicles Displaying Emergency or Warning Lights

(a) A person driving a vehicle on a freeway approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle that is displaying emergency lights, a stationary tow truck that is displaying flashing amber warning lights, or a stationary marked Department of Transportation vehicle that is displaying flashing amber warning lights, shall approach with due caution and, before passing in a lane immediately adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle, tow truck, or Department of Transportation vehicle, absent other direction by a peace officer, proceed to do one of the following:

(1) Make a lane change into an available lane not immediately adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle, tow truck, or Department of Transportation vehicle, with due regard for safety and traffic conditions, if practicable and not prohibited by law.

(2) If the maneuver described in paragraph (1) would be unsafe or impracticable, slow to a reasonable and prudent speed that is safe for existing weather, road, and vehicular or pedestrian traffic conditions.

(b) A violation of subdivision (a) is an infraction, punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50).

From what I can tell, most Canadian provinces have laws requiring motorists to pull over when an emergency vehicle is approaching with lights and/or sirens (a “pull over law”, I guess).

I think only Alberta has a move over law as has been described – like if a police officer has someone pulled over on the highway and you switch to the left lane or at least slow down when passing. I do it anyway in Ontario – it’s only courteous, I think.

To answer the question…..is this law is enforced?

In Tennessee, yes. I had a lady driver pulled over on the interstate for no tail lights. As I was talking to her, a van passed me and barely hit my back with its right side mirror. I let the lady with no tail lights go with a warning and stopped the van. Traffic citation for reckless driving was issued to her. That was an eeeery feeling to have a vehicles mirror barely run across your back, at about 60 mph !!

@john65pennington Thanks for answering. I am assuming it was not on the Interstate? Did the driver have to stop for a light? Otherwise how would you catch up to him?

JLeslie, lady slowed down to exit off the interstate. She stated that she was not familiar with this law. I politely told her that there are signs posted all over the interstate, telling drivers of this law.

She paid her fine of $1,200.00.

Two citations issued. One for the move over law and one for reckless driving.

I see. So, if she had not exited it would have been difficult to catch up. Those laws are fairly new, I can see how someone driving for the last 30 years may not know about it. Driving has no tests to maintain your license like doctors, realtors, and lawyers have. I agree she broke reckless and the moveover, but is it realy necessary to write two tickets with such a high fine? Once she knows the law she will probably obey it. I wish they would just tax everyone a little higher, give the police department some more money, and stop being so aggressive with steep fines on the road.

This lady driver was middle-age and intelligent. A lot of her drivig infomation was taken into consideration, like her past traffic record and driving on an expired DL. She knew better. Oh, I failed to mention she was talking on a cellphone.

@Brian1946 Thanks for that. I’ve lived in California for years and have never seen any signs or announcements or anything in the news about that law. I have never heard of it being enforced.

The local police and fire departments that have dashboard cameras are beginning to go back and cite people for not pulling over for lights and sirens.

I don’t know which states have the law or not, I just do it. I think I saw, in Ohio, that it was a law and thought, “well that’s a good idea”. So now if a car is pulled off the side, I automatically move over (if traffic allows) or slow down if I can’t move over. I certainly don’t want to hurt someone just because they’re on the side of the road.

I wish there was a similar law to make people move out of the fast lane when they finish passing.

I don’t know of its legal status, but in Driver’s Ed we were told to either slow down when passing accidents/police/ambulances, or else change lanes.

@john65pennington Ah, so a distracted driver as well. Cell phone, not good.

it’s the law in Illinois

It’s a silly law, in my opinion. Silly because it “enacts” as law what is already common sense.

In Connecticut, the law is summarized:

This bill requires a motorist approaching one or more stationary emergency vehicles located on the travel lane, breakdown lane, or shoulder of a highway to (1) immediately slow down to a reasonable speed below the posted speed limit and (2) if traveling in the lane adjacent to the location of the emergency vehicle, move over one lane, unless this would be unreasonable or unsafe.

For these requirements to apply, the emergency vehicle must have flashing lights activated. Under the bill, an “emergency vehicle” includes a vehicle:

1. operated by a member of an emergency medical service organization responding to an emergency call;

2. operated by a fire department or by any officer of the department responding to a fire or other emergency;

3. operated by a police officer;

4. that is a maintenance vehicle, as defined by law; or

5. that is a licensed wrecker.

In most cases a driver will never know for certain if any of the 5 numbered classes of vehicles will apply. All the driver will see is “flashing lights”, which is all we ever know as drivers, that is, what we can see in front of us. I won’t know who the operator is, whether they’re “responding to a call” or whether the wrecker is “licensed” or not; all I see is lights.

So, fine. I see flashing lights and react by slowing and moving over – which I do anyway “unless this would be unreasonable or unsafe”. Those who have driven in rush hour traffic in and around major metropolitan areas of the US – or in Connecticut at nearly any time in daylight hours – know that it is very often explicitly “unreasonable and unsafe” to immediately slow down and certainly to “move over” when there isn’t room to do that.

It’s another “feel good” law that accomplishes nothing except to make new classes of criminal when that suits the suits.

Considering that here in Seattle, pulling someone over will (and does) lead to a five mile log-jam on the interstate, I think that such a law is actually dangerous. The guy behind me isn’t always able and willing to slow down, and I can’t always dodge out of the way. I have seen quite a few accidents happen that way.

This law may be well-intended, but it’s also a hazard to public safety.

Not moving over put the officer in jeopardy. Here in my state, several officers have been hit due to people not slowing down or moving over.

@SpatzieLover That is true, but given a choice between hitting an officer and causing a multi-car pile-up…

If there’s a chance at a multi-car pile up when an emergency vehicle is present, then the speed limit needs to be lowered, IMO, or there needs to be a focus on putting in emergency shoulders.

@SpatzieLover That would lower the speed limit on I-5 to 15 MPH, and even then there would be fender benders. I’ve actually seen it… quite a few times, all at under 30. That is with two shoulders, three normal lanes, and an HOV lane.

No, the real way to do it is to make getting a drivers license harder and more expensive like Japan or many places in Europe, but that it’s a separate rant.

^Agreed! :)