Simple awareness of Scott’s Law will save lives on the road. Due to the holidays, summer, road construction, distracted driving, and other factors, Scott’s Law is often neglected. As a result, precious lives are being lost. Increased police patrols on the road to avoid/prevent/reduce accidents due to failure to yield to an emergency vehicle parked on the roadside.

Scott’s Law is named after a Chicago first responder who lost his life when another driver hit Scott while he was assisting a traffic accident. Also known as Move Over Law #moveover, Scott’s Law is now being enforced very strictly.

When an emergency vehicle is parked on the roadside with lights on, the oncoming driver must slow down and change lanes. This will avoid hitting the people who are present on the roadside assisting others.  It is a simple common sense law that will save lives.

Challenges

Drivers are finding difficulty in switching lanes when they saw the vehicle with blinking lights. Sometimes there are multiple vehicles on either side of the road! By the time, we switch lanes for one vehicle, there is already another one on the other side of the road. At high speeds, switching lanes is also challenging.

If there are three to four lanes, drivers may find some space to move over. However, if there are only two lanes, sometimes drivers are unable to yield or slow down and go ahead without switching lanes.

Enforcement

During long drives on high ways, you can find that police patrol have parked vehicles with lights on just to enforce Scott’s Law. We have heard recent stories that police have left the vehicle they were inspecting and gave tickets to the vehicle who did not move over.

No one wants to hit another person or get a traffic ticket. Everyone must aim at reaching their destination safely and respect the rules of the road. By following Scott’s Law, both speeding and hitting other people can be avoided. Increased awareness and reduced speeds will save precious lives.