When your work is on the road, there are a lot of risks
“Especially with a semi, you feel the wind gust,” Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Troy Kessler said.
Kessler is talking about the drivers passing by when he’s out of his car.
“It reminds you how much danger is involved with this job and how easily our life can be taken away,” he said.
Drivers again and again don’t slow down or move over as required by law. Even an ambulance stays in the lane.
“The law has been around for quite a while but there is still so many people that don’t know the law,” Kessler said.
Currently, the law applies to first responders, tow truck drivers and maintenance workers. When lights are flashing, passing drivers are required to move over one lane, or slow down to 20 mph under the speed limit.
“I think it’s very important you know these guys are doing their jobs,” driver Wilson Sojo said.
Sojo, who was stopped for speeding, says he agrees there’s no reason drivers shouldn’t be following the law.
“I think we need to be doing our part,” he said.
To get the word out, Colorado State Patrol pushed for an official “move over awareness day,” on Oct. 19. And AAA is now hoping to expand the law to include any motorist stopped or stranded on the side of the road.
“What we are trying to do is just simplify the law right now Colorado law specifies when and how and for whom you move over for but when you think about it everybody’s at risk so just making it the law, so everybody has to move over a lane or slow down it’s much easier to enforce.” Skyler McKinley said.
McKinley, a spokesperson for AAA, says they have been working with lawmakers for several months and expect it will not only be discussed when the legislative sessions start in January, but that it will pass.
Kessler welcomes that idea – and any opportunity to save more lives.
“We want people to know that it is the law but on top of that these people on the side of the road they are not just workers they are real people too,” Kessler said.
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