Published on Saturday, April 15, 2006
in the Tampa Bay 10 News

State to raise awareness of "Move Over" law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Highway Patrol is introducing a safety program aimed at raising awareness of a law that requires drivers to move over when approaching an emergency vehicle.

Records show that drivers crashed into police vehicles along Florida's roads nearly 18-hundred times between 1996 and 2000, killing five people and injuring hundreds more.

That heavy toll prompted state lawmakers to pass the "Move Over Act" in 2002, but police say few drivers got the message.

The law requires drivers to move over when they approach emergency vehicles stopped by the road. If there's nowhere to go because of heavy traffic, then you're required to slow down.

Now police are posting stickers with that message on gas pumps across the state.

A spokesman for gas stations says the goal is to place "Move Over" stickers on every gas pump in Florida.