MOVE OVER: Officers Say Law Is Difficult To Enforce

Iowa’s new “move over” law has been in effect for a week now.  State troopers say many drivers are giving them more space, but many others haven’t caught on, yet.

“It doesn’t surprise me.  It’s something we encounter every day, from a traffic stop to an accident.  We’re constantly having vehicles running right next to us,” says Trooper Brian Moses. 

We caught up with Moses at a crash on I-235 in Des Moines, Saturday afternoon.

He says a U-Haul van was trying to merge onto 235 from Interstate 80, when it forced another car into the concrete divider.

Two passengers in the car were taken to the hospital.  They are expected to recover.

Trooper Moses directed traffic around this particular scene, but he says he often works alone, and he relies on people to give him a lane worth of working room.

He says, “It’s the type of violation that when we are on the side of the road, we’re already dealing with something, and unless somebody else is available that’s behind us to go and address that, it’s really hard to enforce.”

As a reminder, you need to move over and put a lane width of space between you and the emergency vehicle or tow truck on the side of the road.

If that’s not possible, you should slow down.

Failure to do so could result in a $100 fine, plus court costs.  The penalties rise, if failing to move over results in a crash.