South Dakota: Operation 52-1K Stresses Importance Of Move Over Law

A major multi-agency operation will kick off early next month in Moody County as dozens of officers, troopers and deputies work together to keep the roads safe. Within the county, one deputy has been killed and many others have been hit, sometimes more than once, since 2003.

Winter is the most dangerous time for law enforcement in Moody County. Sheriff Troy Wellman knows that all too well. "I was hit on January 9, 2009 and then I was hit again on December 16, 2014," Wellman said.Sheriff Wellman was inside of his car and avoided serious injury on Interstate 29.

"Essentially they're playing roulette with my life and I have no control," Wellman said.

Roughly eight law enforcement officers have been hit by oncoming cars since 2003 in the county. Last December, Wellman was hit the second time close to the Big Sioux River Bridge, the same spot where Deputy Bill Davis was killed years earlier.

Fifty-four-year-old Davis was killed while ticketing a driver on Interstate 29 for over driving the slippery road conditions on November 3, 2003.

A car driven by a 35-year-old Illinois woman slid on the ice, hitting the deputy.

"Bill was Bill. He always had a smile on his face, kind of a practical joker," Wellman said.

Wellman drove the ambulance to save his friend and long-time coworker that winter day.

With so many close calls since Davis' death, Wellman and South Dakota Highway Patrol Sargent Isaac Kurtz are conducting an intense initiative in Davis' honor.

Called Operation 52-1K in honor of their fallen friend's badge number, every law enforcement agency within the county is committed to teach drivers to move over.

"We are trying to do our job and we want to be safe when we are doing it," SDHP Sgt. Isaac Kurtz said. "This is one way we thought we could do that."

Starting the first week of September, Highway Patrol, the Moody County Sheriff's office, and Flandreau and Brookings police departments are focused on enforcing laws on Interstate 29.

"Our biggest goal at the beginning of the day is to get home safely," Kurtz said. "You're more likely to get hit by a car or struck by a passing motorist than you are to get shot or stabbed in this job."

They'll enforce traffic laws, including the critical move over law - that requires motorists to merge into the outside lane and slow down when passing any vehicle with yellow flashing lights. It's a law that many drivers ignore.

"Sitting here, there are two more, here comes three more that are unwilling to move over or slow down so they can get safely moved over," Wellman said.

Going into this winter, one of law enforcement's biggest concerns on I-29 is the new 80 mile per hour speed limit.

"By increasing the speed limit by five miles per hour, you increase your stopping distance tremendously. You throw bad roads on there and it is going to increase your stopping distance even farther," Kurtz said.

The agencies are taking Operation 52-1K seriously, conducting at least three all-day saturation patrols and at least one sobriety checkpoint.

It's a push to prevent more close-calls and deaths as we head into the winter months.

"Ultimately if we are safe, everyone else is going to be safe," Kurtz said.

The operation wraps up though the first week of November. A violation of the move over law is a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 fine or 60 days in jail.