RICHMOND, Va. – First responders are leading a renewed push to raise awareness and educate drivers about an important change in the law.
Some say many drivers are breaking the law on their daily commutes, possibly without knowing it.
On 1 July 2023, the ‘Move Over’ law will be expanded to include more than just emergency vehicles.
All drivers must move over a lane or slow down for any vehicle on the shoulder with hazards on or flares lit outside the vehicle.
If you can’t change lanes, the law requires you to at least proceed with caution and slow down.
“In three seconds you can change someone’s life. In three seconds, you can take someone’s life,” said Deputy Brad Hughes of the Powhatan Sheriff’s Office.
Deputy Hughes is a fierce advocate for this expansion of the Move Over Law.
He made it his life’s mission to get drivers to pay attention, slow down and move over after his own personal tragedy on the side of the road.
In 2014, Hughes pulled over to help a driver on the side of the road, but a distracted driver hit him and pinned him. He lost his legs as a result.
“When I see them on the side of the road getting hit by people who are not paying attention, people who are not moving over, it bothers me,” Hughes said. “If I can be that one person to come out here and show you what happens to an individual when they’re hit, just by looking at what I have to deal with on a daily basis, it can remind you yourself that you can be the cause of that.”
Hughes is just one person whose life has been forever changed and who demonstrates the consequences of not moving on.
Between 2017 and 2021, 30 people in Virginia were killed on the road in front of disabled vehicles.
“It’s frustrating for us because we’re your neighbour, your son, your daughter, your father, your mother, and we’re there trying to help the public in their time of need, basically being their best friend on their worst day,” said Lt. Derek Hazelwood of the South Hill Volunteer Fire Department.
In 2018, Hanover Fire Lt. Brad Clark was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer driver while responding to a single vehicle accident on Interstate 295 during Tropical Storm Michael.
“We take this to heart, and there are many of these individuals across the Commonwealth and across the United States who have had things like Brad happen to them because people weren’t paying attention,” Lt. Hazelwood said.
If you don’t slow down or move over for an average car, it’s considered a primary offense and you could get a $250 ticket.