January is “Move Over” month and officials want to remind you to follow the law when you see law enforcement stopped on the side of the road.
The law does not apply to just law enforcement vehicles and personnel, it is also for fire trucks and ambulances, tow trucks and utility service vehicles, and their drivers.
The Move Over Law
- If you see one of these vehicles stopped on the side of the road, you should move over to the next lane to give them space.
- If you cannot safely change lanes, you need to reduce your speed to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.
- If you are driving on a two lane road, you will need to slow down, reducing your speed to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.
By not following the law, there is a risk of causing a bad accident or possibly killing someone.
Preliminarily in 2020, there were 159 crashes and over 12,000 citations issued for motorists failing to move over in Florida.
“Each move-over related crash or citation is not simply a statistic, it represents a first responder or service professional – all with family and loved ones – who was carelessly put in danger while trying to serve and protect Floridians along the roadway,” said FLHSMV Executive Director, Terry L. Rhodes. “Please, give law enforcement, first responders, and service and utility professionals space to safely do their jobs by moving over or slowing down – it’s the law, and it could save a life.”
The Move Over Law was added to section 316.126, Florida Statutes, in 2002. The statute, which was originally introduced in 1971, requires motorists to move or yield right-of-way to emergency vehicles and in 2014, utility and sanitation vehicles were added to the Move Over Law. The Move Over Law states that drivers must move over as soon as it is safe to do so for any authorized law enforcement, emergency or service vehicles displaying any visible signals while stopped on the roadside, including Road Rangers, sanitation vehicles and tow trucks.