State police: Move over for emergency vehicles

Indiana State Police are joining with their fellow state troopers in five states to crack down this week on those who do not change lanes for emergency vehicles.

Through Saturday, Indiana troopers along with officers from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will have heightened enforcement of their states’ Move Over / Slow Down law.

When you are driving by a stationary police, fire or medical emergency vehicle stopped on the side of a highway, you are required to change lanes away from the vehicle, or to reduce your speed to 10 mph below the posted speed limit, if you can’t safely change lanes. Indiana passed its law in 1999, the first state in the nation to pass such a law.

Indiana’s law has since been expanded to include vehicles for recovery, utility service, solid waste haulers, road and street highway maintenance, as well as survey or construction, when they are stopped and displaying flashing amber lights.