Law enforcement agencies are reminding drivers of the importance of moving over when they see flashing emergency lights.
It comes as a part of the National Move Over Day on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Ohio, like all 50 states, has a Move Over law that requires drivers to slow down and move over for any vehicle with flashing lights parked on the roadside.
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Chris Overpeck, Operations Manager at AAA, told News Center 7′s Candace Price that the goal is to educate drivers to “understand the severity of what could happen or the challenges if they do not obey this law.”
According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, 5,561 crashes that happened across Ohio between 2015 and 2020 may have been prevented if drivers had moved over.
“Distracted driving plays a part in it, but also the sense of urgency in their day to day life; in a hurry to get from point A to point B,” Overpeck said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that they have issued over 3,500 citations for drivers not following the state’s Move Over law this year.
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“This law is here to protect our families and us,” OSHP Lieutenant Geoffrey Freeman said.
Freeman said it was a driver failing to follow the Move Over law that almost cost a trooper his life in earlier this year.
“Back in July of this year we had a trooper stopped with a car for a traffic stop on US 35 and a motorist came by, hit the car the trooper was stopped with and pushed that car into the trooper, slamming him into the wall,” Freeman said.
The ongoing campaign to will have multiple agencies on social media using the hashtags “#MoveOverMonday” and “#MoveOverOhio” as a reminder to drivers.
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