TOOELE, Utah — A "Move Over Law" was designed and put in place to save lives, yet the Utah Highway Patrol says drivers continue to ignore it, and on Thursday, it nearly cost a trooper his life.
“Emergency vehicles, tow vehicles, or maintenance vehicles with their lights flashing. You’re required to slow down, change lanes. To move over, away from them,” explained Tony Ellenberger, with The Driving School in Tooele.
The side of the road is a dangerous place to be, and it's something that law enforcement in Utah and around the U.S. often preach.
But are drivers listening?
“Our officers get hit all of the time,” said Ellenberger.
"Ellenberger, who has taught Utah drivers for seven years, says the law is simple.
“If you’re looking far enough, you should be able to see those things early, and it gives you extra time to move over,” he explained.
UHP officials want to nail home the point that in Utah, moving over is not just a courtesy, it’s the law.
"When you see a vehicle on the shoulder of the road with flashing lights, you’re required to move over,” said UHP Maj. Chamberlin Neff.
Three vehicles, including two law enforcement cars, involved in crash on I-15:
And if traffic doesn't allow for a driver to move over a lane, Ellenberger teaches to “slow down even more and give them as much room as you can.”
Early Thursday, UHP troopers responded to an accident on I-15 in West Bountiful and found that several drivers failed to move over to allow law enforcement to stay safe. That's when one of the troopers pulled out to nab one of the offenders.
“As he was doing so, he was hit by one of the vehicles that was slowing down to move over," explained Neff. "That passenger car that hit that trooper was actually pushed into an unmarked Unified Police Department vehicle,”
Thankfully, no one was injured in the multi-vehicle accident, but that was this time. What about next time?
“Whether it is a state trooper, tow truck driver, or just a stranded motorist that’s on the shoulder of the road, everybody deserves to go home safe," added Neff. "So let’s give them the space that they need.”
Ellenberger shared how Thursday's accident is just another reminder that the next time a driver sees flashing lights or another driver on the side of the road, "you would slow down."
“Check, of course, to make sure you’re clear, and you would move over a lane," he said. "Once you’ve passed that car, the stop, then you could move back over to your original lane.”
DRIVEN TO CHANGE
