Traffic Tips: Slow down, move over. It's the law

Alright, we've got some important things. That's right, We're having today's traffic tips is all about emergency workers and roadside crews who put their lives at risk each time they're forced to stop on the side of a busy road or highway, and the simple act of just slowing down and moving over can help protect them. NBC drivers are required by law to slow down and move over for all vehicles that are stopped alongside the road that have flashing red, blue or yellow lights. Driving down the highway and you see an emergency vehicle, for example, an ambulance or a police vehicle, a fire vehicle or one of the works trucks pulled over with their lights flashing. By law, you need to move over to the to the next, lean over and slow down to make it a safe workspace for those people on the side of the road and on the highway. Most drivers know that they need to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles, but the same rules also apply to maintenance and road workers. We have main roads on the highway that stopped to protect people who've been broken down. And unfortunately, because they're not police officers, people might think that they just don't have to care because there's no one seemingly there to enforce the law if they break it. But it must be respected. Rd. maintenance crews and emergency personnel who work on or on the side of the road are at risk of being struck by passing vehicles. There's been many, many times where there's been close calls, where vehicles have speed through intersections. We've actually had cases where paramedics have been injured on the road because people have been not abiding by the rules. Can be serious consequences when you fail to follow the rules. We handed out hundreds and hundreds of real violation tickets is on top of our warnings, and those tickets are $173 and three points on your license. And it's not just about the fine. It's not a it's not about hey, I got out away with not getting $173 fine. It's about people's lives here. Let's do our part and reduce the number of preventable collisions. The next time you see a vehicle, stop by the side of the road that has flashing red, blue, or yellow light. Slow down and give those crews a safe space to work. This just happened yesterday to me with emergency vehicle. People forget it's not just your rear view mirror, but even if they're oncoming on the other side of the highway, you still got to slow down because sometimes they they have to go. And yeah, if there's no barrier there, then absolutely. I've had that discussion before. And a lot of people forget or they don't know that it's not just emergency vehicles, but it's anybody with flashing yellow as well, like tow trucks that are on the side of the road generally to help people. So float out for construction workers. Exactly, exactly. That's next week's topic. We'll get to that next week. Stay tuned. And if you have a suggestion of a story we should cover or traffic concern we should look into, you can always e-mail us at Morning News at globaltv.com. All right. Thanks, Kate.