Pennsylvania Starts their New Move Over Law Today

6abc reports, starting today drivers in Pennsylvania will be subject to big fines if they do not move over for emergency vehicles. Under the new law, if a vehicle does not change lanes if an emergency vehicle is pulled over on the side of the road, they can face a two point penalty. They can also face a fine of $500, $1,000 or $2,000 depending on their offense. As long as motorists are able to safely merge into another lane to avoid the emergency vehicle, they must. If there is no way to safely merge, you must decrease your speed. Pennsylvania is cracking down and trying to keep motorists safe. More details of the Move Over, Slow Down law in Pennsylvania can be found here.

Being that my husband is a police officer and we have known officers who have died because they've gotten. hit by a car while doing a traffic stop or just helping a civilian while they were off duty. It's absolutely heartbreaking. Most police officers are trained to walk to the passenger side of the car they are pulling over on a highway, but there are still some officers that are on the driver side of the car they are pulling over. It is not safe. Too many officers have lost their lives because of this. It's also sad that the same goes for other emergency vehicles on the side of the road. My cousin drives a tow truck and he's dealt with cars driving by him at extremely fast speeds and it's so scary. Whenever I am driving on a highway with my husband and I see someone on the shoulder, I always try to pull over as long as it's safe. We all need to do our part to keep each other safe on the roads. There are way too many traffic fatalities and it needs to stop.