Wisconsin: Law of the Month: Protection provided by Move Over Law
By reacting calmly and correctly in the following situations, you can help prevent serious problems.
When you see warning lights flashing on a law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, fire truck, tow truck, highway maintenance vehicle or utility vehicle that is stopped on the side of a road, you are required to move over or at least slow down.
“Under the state’s Move Over Law, if you can safely switch lanes on interstate highways and other divided roads with multiple directional lanes, you must vacate the lane closest to the stopped law enforcement or other emergency vehicle,” said Capt. Gerald Voight of the State Patrol’s Northwest Region based in Eau Claire.
“If the road has a single directional lane or you can’t safely move over because of traffic, you must reduce your speed until safely past the vehicle,” he said.
A citation for a Move Over Law violation costs $263.50 with three demerit points added to your driver’s license.
“Our officers and others working on the sides of highways are in danger of being hit while inside or outside their vehicles by out-of-control or speeding vehicles that did not move over,” Voight said.
“By obeying the Move Over Law, drivers can protect themselves, their passengers, our officers and others who work on highways from serious injuries and deaths,” he said.
Drivers also may encounter emergency vehicles, such as law enforcement squad cars, ambulances and fire trucks, approaching with their warning lights and sirens activated.
According to state law, drivers must then yield the right of way and drive immediately “to a position as near as possible and parallel to the right curb or the right-hand edge of the shoulder of the roadway clear of any intersection.”
Unless directed otherwise by a law enforcement officer, the driver of the vehicle shall stop and remain stopped until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed.
A violation of this law costs $326.50 with four points added to the driver’s license.
“While making traffic stops on divided highways, our officers see many motorists move to the left and stop on the median shoulder instead of pulling over on the right shoulder,” Voight said.
“Stopping on the median shoulder instead of the shoulder on the right is dangerous for both the motorist and the officer,” he said.
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