“For our law enforcement officials, firefighters and emergency responders, putting their lives at risk every day is just part of their job. We need to do all we can to protect them from undue harm, and this bill is one way to do that.”

— Sen. John Snow (D-Murphy)

North Carolina is poised to toughen the penalties for drivers who ignore its “Move Over” law. The tougher penalties are needed, as is a continued effort by the state to inform citizens about the law.

The law requires motorists to move over to the next lane or slow down when approaching a stopped emergency or law enforcement vehicle whose flashing lights are on. The current fine for those who ignore this law is $125, but a bill being shepherded through the General Assembly by Snow and Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill, would double the fine to $250. It also makes it a felony if failure to abide by the law leads to serious injury or death to a public safety officer or emergency responder.

We in Western North Carolina, unfortunately, know all too well what can happen when careless drivers ignore flashing lights. Highway Patrol Trooper Calvin Taylor was killed in 2001 while issuing a traffic citation along a stretch of Interstate 40 in Haywood County. Taylor had been run over by a tractor-trailer that crossed into the shoulder lane. In May 2003, Trooper Anthony Cogdill was killed in a similar accident, again along Interstate 40 in Haywood County.

Snow was a judge at the time of these deaths, so he is well aware of how the tragedy affected those in the legal and law enforcement community, as well as the troopers’ families. He spoke of Taylor and Cogdill in urging support for the bill. “In both these cases, the tragic news spread quickly throughout our mountain community. Calvin and Anthony were friends, neighbors and heroes of so many in our area. Their deaths were not flukes — they are proof that we need stronger consequences for motorists who fail to follow the law.”

According to Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) data, there were 369 crashes in 2003 involving emergency medical service vehicles in which the emergency vehicle driver was not at fault. More than 70 troopers have been injured or killed in roadside crashes resulting from drivers failing to move over or slow down near stopped emergency vehicles.

Getting out of the way when someone is pulled or when an accident has occurred does more than just protect law enforcement and emergency officials, however. According to a federal highway study, at least 30 percent of all crashes occur as the result of another crash. When a freeway lane is closed due to an accident, it takes four minutes for traffic to recover for every minute a lane is closed.

Laura Feinberg, a Haywood County woman who is married to a trooper, can take a lot of credit for the original Move Over law and this update. Soon after Trooper Cogdill’s death she established the advocacy group Families for Roadside Safety. That organization advocated for the Move Over law and she personally carried the message to state lawmakers, local leaders, the media, highway engineers, community groups and anyone else who would listen.

Now that we have the law, it just makes sense to let motorists know that we take it seriously. Hiking the fine will help do that,, and in the process make our highways safer for everyone.