State Police Upping Enforcement Of ‘Move Over’ Law

State Police is increasing its efforts to enforce the “Move Over” law, in light of several officers who have been hit while on the side of the road.

State Police Sgt. Jared Sandifer says the law applies to all emergency vehicles, including police, firefighters, EMS, and tow trucks. He says people need to watch out for these vehicles when they are on the side of the road.

“They need to proceed with caution and give that person room, and by doing that they need to make a lane change and move over in the lane opposite that emergency vehicle. If they can’t do that they need to reduce their speed,” Sandifer said.

In the past week, officers in both Sterlington and St. John the Baptist Parish have been hit by vehicles while on the side of the road, and one of the Sterlington officers was killed. Sandifer says if you cannot get over the other lane, it’s important to at least slow down. He says you can not only get a ticket for not moving over, but you can seriously hurt or kill someone.

“Without a doubt, we’re always on the lookout for people that don’t exercise that caution around emergency vehicles,” Sandifer said.

According to the “Move Over America” campaign, over 70% of Americans have not heard of “move over” laws. Sandifer says it’s about safety for these people and also just treating others as you would want to be treated.

“If you were on the side of the road, let’s say with a broken down vehicle, you would hope that people would slow down and give you a little bit of room, and that’s all we’re asking for. Just let those emergency responders out there work in as safe an environment as they can,” Sandifer said.