×

Violators of Move Over law high statewide, low locally

Although drivers are required to move over when passing a police or emergency vehicle stopped along the road, many don’t.

In fact, many drivers are not even aware they’re breaking the law.

Recently, the New York State Police conducted a five-day enforcement campaign of the so-called “Move Over” law, which requires drivers to use care, slow down and safely move over when approaching law enforcement vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, tow trucks, construction and maintenance vehicles stopped along the roadway.

The campaign, which ran  from Nov. 14-18, yielded 230 tickets for violations — four times the norm for a typical one-week span.

Violations were the highest in the Hudson Valley region with 96 tickets issued. The Central New York region yielded 60 tickets, while the Capital and Western New York regions yielded 57 and 17 tickets, respectively.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced the campaign results, thanked state and local law enforcement for their efforts to enforce the rules of the road.

“Every day, our first responders put their lives on the line to ensure the safety and security of our motorists and the roadways they depend on,” Cuomo said. “With this aggressive campaign, our message rings loud and clear — we have zero tolerance for irresponsible driving that puts our police officers, emergency personnel and other workers in harm’s way.”

Despite the high number of tickets statewide, local police agencies have actually noticed a steady improvement in how drivers approach roadside activity.

“I remember (before) being breezed by drivers flying by me while on the side of the road,” said Joe Gerace, Chautauqua County sheriff. “But there’s no question that I’ve seen an improvement in people’s driving behavior since the ‘Move Over’ law was first enacted.”

Captain Eric J. Balon, Troop A Zone III commander of the New York State Police, agreed.

“Locally, in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, we’ve seen a very high compliance rate,” he said. “We didn’t see any increase (in violations here during the campaign).”

The “Move Over” law, which took effect in 2011, has been expanded twice to include a wider range of vehicles, and has resulted in more than 77,000 tickets issued to motorists in violation of the law.

In an earlier interview with the OBSERVER, Julius Leone, director of Chautauqua County Emergency Services, said the law previously only applied to drivers approaching stopped police, emergency or hazard vehicles with flashing red and white or amber lights. The law now includes volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers, who display flashing blue and green lights, respectively.

“In a car accident scene, people are really interested in what’s going on and sometimes they get distracted,” Leone said. “I’ve been at scenes where cars are coming pretty close to me. So now that the law says to move over for blue lights … it will be a lot safer for our folks at the scene of an incident.”

Those who violate the “Move Over” law could face a fine of $150 to $400 and up to 45 days in jail.

Repeat offenders could face harsher penalties.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today