Tennessee: Crash involving Columbia driver is a reminder of state’s ‘Move Over’ law
A crash involving a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper and a Columbia driver is serving as a reminder to move over for law enforcement.
The trooper pulled over to help a stranded driver on Interstate 65 on Tuesday between Peytonsville Road and Franklin Road when he was rear-ended.
Trooper Eric Pincince is recovering after being hit while helping a stranded motorist.
“He could’ve very well been killed in this instance,” said Lt. Bill Miller, the spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Pincince had pulled over on the median wall of I-65 North near the Peytonsville Road exit to help another driver when his car was hit from behind by an SUV driven by Casey Jo Burns, of Columbia.
“He was there helping this person who had broken down,” Miller said. “He had all his emergency equipment activated, his blue lights, his strobe lights, his red flashing tail lights, and at the time, the driver struck his vehicle for some unknown reason. That’s still under investigation.”
The other driver shattered the trooper’s rear window and then flipped across several lanes of traffic.
“If the trooper wasn’t there, we don’t know what may have happened,” Miller said. “It could have been a much worse situation than it was today for the person who broke down.”
While no one was killed in the crash, it is bringing a renewed focus to the “Move Over” law, designed to protect law enforcement and emergency workers on the highway.
“You are required to slow down and move over into the open lane that’s either to your left if the emergency vehicle is on the right-hand side of the road,” Miller said.
But how many drivers are obeying the law?
From 2005 to 2014, Williamson County has issued 525 citations for violating the move-over law, the third-highest
number of citations in the state.
Knox County issued the most citations with 1,111 in the 10year period. The next highest was Sullivan
County in northeast Tennessee with 671 citations.
Among other Middle Tennessee counties, 350 citations were issued in Robertson County, 295 in Rutherford
County, 262 in Davidson County, 137 in Montgomery County, 131 in Wilson County and 84 in Sumner
County.
“When you see these vehicles, slow down and exercise caution, extreme caution,” Miller said. “You never
know what that situation may be, the scenario that’s just up ahead of you.”