FULTON – In 2018, New York State police officers issued over 13,000 tickets for violations of the Move Over Law, a traffic law meant to protect the safety of emergency responders and those in work zones.
Although this law was enacted in 2011, getting hit by a vehicle while responding to a call is still a fear and reality for emergency responders.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2011 and 2015, 192 law enforcement workers and 52 fire and rescue workers were killed in a roadway vehicle incident.
Fulton Police Chief Craig Westbrook said the Move Over Law is meant for the safety of emergency responders, road service workers and drivers of disabled vehicles – such as a driver changing a flat tire on the side of the road.
He said in his experience, violations of the Move Over Law have often happened when he was engaged in responding to something else and was not in a position to address the driver who did not move over.
“It’s one more thing we all have to be aware of when we’re out on the road and it would be great to say that because you know that your lights are on, or because your vehicle is parked in a certain position, that people are going to avoid it, but obviously… it happens much too frequently,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook said last fall, a bus clipped the side of an unoccupied patrol vehicle while it was pulled over on the side of the road responding to another incident. He said luckily no one was hurt and the extent of the damage to the patrol car was the side view mirror, as opposed to a recent incident in Liverpool when a state police vehicle was hit and the officer was injured.
“There are people who are very diligent about it and move over and get out of the way, then there’s other people whether they’re just not paying attention, they’re not concerned, they don’t,” Westbrook said. “Just a brief moment of being inattentive can kill someone.”
On Jan. 27 Menter Ambulance Service posted on their Facebook page that one of their ambulances had been involved in a vehicular crash while responding to a call and the page implored drivers to be aware of their surroundings.
Zach Menter, president and CEO of the ambulance service, said the ambulance’s driver was at no fault, and said he was not sure if the accident was in violation of the Move Over Law.
In regards to the law, Menter said emergency responders often travel on highways for major incidents and the Move Over Law helps to minimize some of the risk they face on a day to day basis.
He said some of his staff expressed appreciation when the law was enacted in 2011 because they felt safer on the job, but ambulance drivers still have their guard up on the road.
“There’s enough risk that goes along with this job as is,” Menter said. “At the end of the day, one of our main goals is to get everyone to go home safely to their families, and I think the Move Over Law certainly increases those chances.”
For the Fulton Fire Department, when a crew responds to a fire, they block off the area with a firefighting apparatus to further ensure the safety of firefighters and the people around the incident by providing a shield on the roadway.
Kevin Niver, FFD Community Risk Reduction Coordinator, said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau require firefighters to wear reflective vests when working in traffic.
He said when the fire department is responding to a call with lights and sirens, they will always go the left side around traffic and will go into oncoming traffic if absolutely necessary.
“We all want to go home to our families every night,” Niver said.
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