National Move Over Day is on Saturday, October 16, 2021. National Move Over Day was created to promote awareness to the Move Over Law which is in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia.
Earlier this week, a fire police officer from the Donaldson Fire Company, Frailey Township, Schuylkill County, PA was struck and seriously injured while directing traffic for his fire company; he was flown to the Hershey Medical Center for treatment. On July 24th of this year, Lower Merion Fire Department Firefighter Tom Royds of the Belmont Hills Fire Department was struck and killed on I-76, Schuylkill Expressway.
Over the years, 152 Pennsylvania Emergency Responders have been struck & killed while helping others as well as 110 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Workers, 262 lives lost, 262 families forever changed. Hundreds if not thousands of emergency responders are struck and injured as well as thousands of motorists each and every year being struck along the roadway.
Attached is a Move Over Info Sheet which explains the enhanced Pennsylvania Move Over Law as well as a Move Over “Fact” Sheet. The fact sheet is updated after each United States emergency responder struck-by death. Sgt. Michael Rudd, La Paz Sheriff Office, Arizona was struck and killed Tuesday while outside his vehicle during a vehicle pursuit and becomes the 50th United States Emergency responder struck and killed in 2021 (there were 46 in 2020 and 44 in 2019)
For the latest United States Struck-By Line of Duty Deaths you can find the info here: https://respondersafety.com/news/struck-by-incidents/yearly-fatality-reports/ , this link gives you the 2019, 2020 and 2021 US Struck-By LODD spreadsheets as well as a video showing the emergency responders that were struck each year. You can also view an interactive map showing the location and information on all United States emergency responders struck and killed in the past 7+ years, at this link:
https://respondersafety.com/news/struck-by-incidents/map-of-u-s-struck-by-lodds/
I’ve attached several PowerPoint slides with information on Pennsylvania Steer Clear / Move Over Law Citations and dispositions for your info and use as well.
I’m asking that for National Move Over Day for each of you to BE THE VOICE, Help Spread the Move Over and Distracted Driver Message, you can find resources to share at https://respondersafety.com/rs-tim-resources/videos/public-education/, https://www.enddd.org/distracted-driving-awareness-resources/ , https://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/get-materials/first-responder-safety/move-over .
Post a message to social media, post a message on a sign in front of your agency, tell your friends, your family, your co-workers, complete strangers that we need get the word out to stop hitting and killed our responders and fellow motorists along the roadway.
If we can change even one motorists behaviors, it may be a life saved.
Todd A. Leiss
Traffic Incident Management Coordinator | Traffic Operations & Engineering
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
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For Additional information on State Move Over Laws, statistics, and handout information, click here .
Additional information on Roadway Safety for Emergency responders can be found at ResponderSafety.com
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