AAA raises awareness for Kentucky’s Move Over Law

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 28 people were killed in Kentucky after being hit while outside a disabled vehicle between 2016 and 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- AAA is raising awareness on Kentucky’s Move Over Law, which looks to protect those who put their lives on the line while keeping roads and drivers safe.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 28 people were killed in Kentucky after being hit while outside a disabled vehicle between 2016 and 2020.

“Everybody just wants to go home at the end of the day,” said Seth Pierce, a fleet supervisor with AAA.

Pierce has been on the side of the road lending a helping hand, with cars racing by at high speeds.

“A split second decision can be the difference in you going home or you going to jail for vehicular manslaughter,” said Pierce.

That’s why his crews go through training to help keep themselves safe while out loading disabled vehicles.
It’s also where the state’s move over law comes into play.

“This is a reminder that you do need to slow down and move over,” said AAA spokesperson Lori Weaver Hawkins.

Hawkins says the agency is working to get the law expanded in the state. Currently, it requires drivers to move to the adjacent lane when approaching an emergency or public safety vehicle, or to slow down.
Failing to do so could lead to fines, jail time, or both. AAA wants to see the law include drivers of disabled vehicles, city and utility workers, and road maintenance workers.

“And I think that if we can expand our law, that helps to remind people not only is this good behavior and it saves lives, but its also the law now,” said Hawkins.

The expansions would help protect those workers. That’s something that Lexington fire crews do when out on calls, by using their engines.

“So if anything happened, we might lose that truck and a vehicle might hit, but we’re saving lives, we’re keeping our personnel safe and we’re keeping the victims involved in the accident safe as well,” said Holly Buchenroth, a firefighter with the Lexington Fire Department.

AAA says National Move Over Day is this Saturday, October 15th. There are events and other things scheduled to raise awareness. For more information about the move over law, click here.