For incident responders, the roadside is the office, so ‘Move Over’ to keep them safe

Imagine an officer worker sitting at a desk working on the side of the freeway while vehicles whiz by at 65 mph. Pretty dangerous, huh?

While the roadside isn’t the normal place for office workers, it is the regular work area for incident responders helping motorists. And driving by at 65 mph is just as dangerous for them as it would be for an office worker.

That’s why Arizona has a ‘Move Over’ law requiring motorists to move over one lane - or slow down if it isn’t safe to change lanes - when driving by any vehicle with flashing lights pulled to the side of a road or highway. This applies to any vehicle including tow trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and maintenance vehicles, like ADOT’s Incident Response Unit trucks.

The purpose of this law is to keep these brave responders safe while they do their jobs. 

Saturday, Oct. 15, is National Move Over Day, but moving over should be a daily habit to help keep people safe.

On Saturday, the Arizona Professional Towing & Recovery Association will lead its annual parade of emergency response vehicles, including tow trucks, ambulances, law enforcement cruisers, ADOT Incident Response Unit trucks and more. At the same time, many overhead message boards statewide will display a traffic safety message that encourages drivers to “Move Over” when they see flashing lights.

Check out more at MoveOverAZ.org.