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Published on Friday, July 2, 2004
in the Miami Herald
Miguel Guzman, a Florida Highway Patrol major, says he was lucky when a truck slammed into his patrol car on July 4, 1992.
He was writing up a traffic stop on the side of the road when he heard skidding. A moment later a truck slammed into his car, tossing him into the back seat of his Mustang and out of work for weeks. He survived his injuries; some troopers have not.
Thursday marked the second anniversary of the Move Over Law, which requires drivers to leave a one-lane buffer when passing emergency vehicles on the side of the road or reduce speed by 20 mph if it's not possible to switch lanes. Flanked by troopers, Broward Sheriff's Office Fire-Rescue officials, and their families, Guzman begged the public to obey the Move Over rules.
Guzman promised that FHP would begin immediately to beef up enforcement by stopping ''every single solitary vehicle'' that doesn't move over.
''We had a law that took effect two years ago, and we feel that the compliance is at a pathetically low level,'' he said. ``The only thing we're requesting is to grant us the courtesy and respect of not adding to the danger we already face.''
Family members were just as insistent. ''Please slow down. Please move over and slow down,'' said Kaitlyn Baker, 9, the daughter of a patrolman. ``My daddy and his friends work out here and I don't want them to get hurt.''
Guzman cited figures from 1996-2000 that show 419 law enforcement workers were injured in roadside car crashes and five were killed.
Roger Reyes, spokesman for the FHP, said that emergency personnel take this law personally. ``Friends of mine -- two troopers -- were killed as a result of people not complying with it.''
The press conference took place against the backdrop of the July Fourth weekend, which has police working more hours, making them more vulnerable.
Just behind the podium was the FHP's memorial to Kimberly Hurd and Robert Smith, troopers killed in roadside collisions -- Hurd in 1992 in North Broward and Smith in 1997 in Miami-Dade County. Recent victims, such as trooper Michael Olaciregui, who was hit on June 8 on Interstate 95 near Oakland Park Boulevard, also at the press conference.
The Move Over legislation carries a minimum penalty of $115, but Guzman said that FHP would ask judges -- in cases where the ticket is challenged -- to institute the maximum penalty of $500.
``We're going to ask judges to look at this not as another routine speeding or tailgating case, but as a situation where a person jeopardized the life of emergency personnel.''