A new law takes effect this week that state officials say is designed to make the highways safer.
It’s New York’s Move Over law, which first became effective in 2010 in an effort to prevent collisions with emergency vehicles that were stopped on the side of a highway.
That law has been expanded several times to also cover vehicles like those carrying highway workers as well as tow trucks.
Last year Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill to further strengthen the law by also including this protection for all disabled vehicles stopped on the highway.
Under the law, when a driver is approaching a vehicle stopped along either shoulder of the road they should move over to a lane that is not immediately adjacent to the vehicle or they should slow down to a reasonable speed if they are unable to safely make a lane change.
Hochul noted that from 2016 to 2020, 37 individuals were killed outside disabled vehicles in New York. Nationally, the governor noted, nearly 300 drivers are struck and killed roadside every year.
The AAA also issued a statement noting that all 50 states have a form of a “slow down, move over” law that requires drivers to slow down and change lanes, if safely possible, when they encounter a vehicle with flashing lights, stopped on the road shoulder.
New York state is launching a public awareness campaign about the law, which takes effect on Wednesday, and the AAA said that it will also launch a similar campaign this spring to make sure drivers know about the change in the Move Over law.
