Florida's
Move Over law requires drivers to move over away
from stopped emergency vehicles where ever possible
or to slow down to 20 mph below the speed limit or
to five mph when the speed limit is 20 mph or less.
The "Move Over Act", passed during the 2002 session
of the Florida Legislature, was signed by Governor
Jeb Bush on May 1, 2002.
There have been a number of collisions recently
involving law enforcement officers on the side of
highways while they were conducting traffic stops in
Florida. One of those resulted in the untimely death
of Deputy Ryan Seguin, a 23-year-old deputy of the
Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Seguin was
struck and killed by a passing vehicle on February
15, 2006, while he conducted a traffic stop on
Interstate 595.
A second incident involved Florida Highway Patrol
Trooper Darryl Haywood, Jr. At approximately
7:00 on Sunday, January 22, 2006, Trooper Darryl
Haywood, Jr., Troop K-Broward County, was involved
in a serious patrol car crash on Florida's Turnpike
just south of the Hollywood Boulevard exit. Trooper
Haywood had just stopped a motorist and was in the
process of writing a citation on the west shoulder
of the Turnpike when his patrol car was rear-ended
by a Dodge pick-up truck that had veered from the
center lane. The pick-up truck then overturned and
came to final rest in the center lane of the
Turnpike. It took rescue crews about 30 minutes to
extricate Trooper Haywood from his patrol car. He
was subsequently airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center in
Miami in serious but stable condition with head
injuries. Trooper Haywood has since been released
and is expected to make a full recovery.
The most recent case involved Florida Highway Patrol
Trooper Adam M. Heinlein. Trooper Heinlein is lucky
to be alive after a tractor-trailer traveling south
on U.S. 27, at about 60 miles per hour, smashed
against the driver’s side of his cruiser on February
16, 2006. Heinlein was sitting in the driver’s seat,
working on his computer, when the tractor-trailer
sideswiped the police car. At the time of the crash,
the individual who had just been stopped by Trooper
Heinlein was standing near the right front fender of
the patrol car. The victim received cuts on his neck
from flying glass and was transported to a nearby
hospital with minor injuries.
Many motorists still do not understand the
importance of this law, which requires motorists to
slow down or move over (change lanes) away from
emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the
roadway with lights flashing. When approaching a
police car, ambulance, tow truck, or other emergency
vehicle, motorists are required to follow this
common sense law. Pembroke Pines Police urges
motorists to help protect the people who protect you
– please move over and let emergency workers do
their jobs without the risk of being injured or
killed.
Here’s what the Move over law states (316.126(1)(b)F.S.):
(1)
(a) Upon the immediate approach of an authorized
emergency vehicle, while en route to meet an
existing emergency, the driver of every other
vehicle shall, when such emergency vehicle is giving
audible signals by siren, exhaust whistle, or other
adequate device, or visible signals by the use of
displayed blue or red lights, yield the right-of-way
to the emergency vehicle and shall immediately
proceed to a position parallel to, and as close as
reasonable to the closest edge of the curb of the
roadway, clear of any intersection and shall stop
and remain in position until the authorized
emergency vehicle has passed, unless otherwise
directed by any law enforcement officer.
(b) When an authorized emergency vehicle making use
of any visual signals is parked or a wrecker
displaying amber rotating or flashing lights is
performing a recovery or loading on the roadside,
the driver of every other vehicle, as soon as it is
safe: 1. Shall vacate the lane closest to the
emergency vehicle or wrecker when driving on an
interstate highway or other highway with two or more
lanes traveling in the direction of the emergency
vehicle or wrecker, except when otherwise directed
by a law enforcement officer.
2. Shall slow to a speed that is 20 miles per hour
less than the posted speed limit when the posted
speed limit is 25 miles per hour or greater; or
travel at 5 miles per hour when the posted speed
limit is 20 miles per hour or less, when driving on
a two-lane road, except when otherwise directed by a
law enforcement officer.
(c) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles shall provide an educational awareness
campaign informing the motoring public about the
Move Over Act. The department shall provide
information about the Move Over Act in all newly
printed driver's license educational materials after
July 1, 2002.
This section shall not relieve the driver of an
authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive
with due regard for the safety of all persons using
the highway.
(2) Every pedestrian using the road right-of-way
shall yield the right-of-way until the authorized
emergency vehicle has passed, unless otherwise
directed by any police officer.
(3) Any authorized emergency vehicle, when en route
to meet an existing emergency, shall warn all other
vehicular traffic along the emergency route by an
audible signal, siren, exhaust whistle, or other
adequate device or by a visible signal by the use of
displayed blue or red lights. While en route to such
emergency, the emergency vehicle shall otherwise
proceed in a manner consistent with the laws
regulating vehicular traffic upon the highways of
this state.
(4) Nothing herein contained shall diminish or
enlarge any rules of evidence or liability in any
case involving the operation of an emergency
vehicle.
(5) This section shall not operate to relieve the
driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the
duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all
persons using the highway.
(6) A violation of this section is a noncriminal
traffic infraction, punishable pursuant to chapter
318 as either a moving violation for infractions of
subsection (1) or subsection (3), or as a pedestrian
violation for infractions of subsection (2).
Contact the Pembroke Pines Police Departments
Traffic Unit @ 954-431-2200 (EAST) or 954-885-6065
(WEST) with any questions.
