Jul 3, 2008 12:46 pm US/Eastern
Hundreds Of Drivers Ticketed For Not 'Moving Over'
10-Thousand Plus Warnings Issued
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
During a special enforcement program to remind all drivers to "Move Over" one lane when they see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road, more than 10-thousand warnings and 45-hundred tickets were issued in a one week period.
During the campaign, which ran from June 23rd to June 29th, law enforcement officials handed out warnings on the first 3 days and then enacted zero tolerance for violators. The fine for a "Move Over" citation was about $122.50.
"This is a true testament to what can be accomplished when law enforcement officers across the state team up with a common goal", said Florida Highway Patrol Director Colonel John Czernis. "But this effort doesn't end here. We will continue to enforce this life saving law and we are going to continue to educate the public. We'll save more lives through enforcement and education."
Florida's Move Over law requires drivers to move over one lane whenever an emergency vehicle on the side of the road has emergency lights activated. On a two-lane roadway, you MUST slow down 20 miles below the posted speed limit when the speed limit is 25 miles per hour or more. If the posted speed limit is 20 MPH or less, you MUST travel at 5 MPH.
Last year in Broward County, Broward Sheriff deputy Ryan Seguin and FHP Troopers Donald Jennings and Kimberly Hurd were all killed by cars in separate incidents on Broward highways. Statewide in 2007, there were over 200 crashes involving police vehicles stopped on roadways resulting in nearly 60 injuries.
"For the safety of our law enforcement officers, firefighters and all the workers on the interstates and highways, we want to prevent this from happening again," said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti.
During the five-year period of 1996-2000, drivers in Florida crashed into working law enforcement vehicles that were stopped or parked along Florida roadways 1,793 times, resulting in 5 deaths and 419 injuries.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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