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  • 4 Sep 2013

The Texas move over law has expanded, effective September 1, 2013. The law originally provided simply that motorists yield to police, fire and emergency vehicles. It has expanded over the years, and include, effective a couple of years ago, the requirement that if you are approaching an emergency vehicle (or a tow truck) with its lights flashing, you are required either to move out of the lane closest to the emergency vehicle, or to slow down to 20 miles per hour less than the posted speed limit (unless the posted speed limit is less than 25 mph, in which case you must reduce your speed to 5 miles per hour). Violation of the law is a misdemeanor.

Starting this month, the protection has been extended Texas Department of transportation workers. According to a Texas DOT press release dated August 8, over 100 employees of the DOT have been killed since 1938 by passing motorists.

We have taken a look at the statistics from around the country, and the available numbers support the conclusion that transportation workers are often subjected to potentially fatal situations in their line of work. A national census of work-related injuries across the country indicates that deaths in the transportation industry accounted for over 40% of all fatal work-related injuries in 2012. Of those 40% (1,789 fatalities), well over half were roadway accidents involving motor vehicles, including 283 workers who were pedestrians, about two-thirds of whom were in work zones at the time. When you add to that the hundreds of police officers killed by passing motorists, the necessity for such laws becomes obvious.

Every state has a move over or similar law of one sort or another, some containing more requirements than others. But at the very least, these laws require that motorists passing emergency vehicles (with flashing lights) reduce their speed and/or attempt to move to a non-adjacent traffic lane. It might therefore come as a shock to many people that over two-thirds of Americans have never heard of a move over law.

We suppose the message here is that it’s time for everyone to slow down and give these folks a “brake.”

Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
1205 Rio Grande Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737

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Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
608 W. 12TH ST.
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737
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