As the Florida Highway Patrol uses billboards and pamphlets to remind drivers to move over for stopped emergency vehicles, Gainesville seems to have received the message.
Over the past four years, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has reported 663 crashes, 239 injuries and three deaths because of drivers who neglected to move over or slow down for a stopped emergency vehicle.
The Move Over, Florida! campaign was designed to decrease the number of unnecessary accidents and keep emergency workers safe.
Of the 5,518 Move Over tickets given in 2016, Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said the department has only issued four.
“We always remind everyone that us and (Emergency Medical Services) have a difficult job when we’re out there on the roadways, and we always appreciate when folks do move over or slow down,” Tobias said.
FHP spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said many violations go unreported because they’re hard to enforce. To issue a ticket, an officer must prove a driver did not decrease their speed.
“If we don’t have the speed of the vehicle, we cannot say for sure they may not have complied with the second part of the Move Over law,” Montes said.
Although the amount of each citation varies by county, she said they usually cost more than $100.
“Whether we’re out helping someone change a tire or disabled vehicle, as a pedestrian on a roadway we’re very vulnerable to get struck,” Montes said.
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