Move Over law applies to more than just law enforcement

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Alabama’s Move Over law applies to more than just law enforcement. If you’re driving on the highway and see flashing lights, you need to move over.

The Move Over law has been in effect since 2009, but ALEA officials are working to remind the community it is actually for all emergency responders who are stopped on the roadside with emergency signals on.

This includes law enforcement, emergency responders, highway maintenance personnel and. last but certainly not least, tow operators.

Weil Wrecker dispatcher Joni Williams says several tow drivers have been hit over the years.

“Our tow truck drivers also have families to go home to. They have children, they have parents, they want to go home just like everyone else. It stresses me out daily to watch people just fly by them the way they do.” Weil Wrecker Dispatcher Joni Williams

ALEA trooper Justin O’neal stresses it can be quite unsettling working scenes with cars flying by.

“It is an eerie feeling when you’re on the side of the road and someone flies by you doing seventy-plus miles per hour and they don’t move over,” O’Neal said. “That is a very scary feeling to be out there on the side of the road when that happens.”

If a driver can’t move over due to other vehicles, they are required by law to slow down by 15 miles per hour. Failure to do so will lead to a fine.

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