OSP: Do you move over?
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is asking motorists to help keep their fellow drivers and law enforcement officers safe by following Ohio's Move Over law.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is asking motorists to help keep their fellow drivers and law enforcement officers safe by following Ohio's Move Over law.
According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, crashes caused by motorists failing to move over in the United States on average account for the death of one tow truck driver every six days; 23 highway workers and one law enforcement officer every moth; and five firefighters every year.
Just last month a State Trooper was hit on I-80 in Jackson Township while investigating an accident.
On July 18, the Trooper and a tow truck were stopped along the median when a truck veered out of control and struck the cruiser and the tow truck. The Trooper heard the oncoming truck and pushed the tow truck driver out of the way, but ended up being struck by his own patrol car.
The Trooper and driver of the truck were taken to the hospital with injuries.
Last week another State Trooper in Northeast Ohio was injured after a routine traffic stop turned into a three car crash.
According to a news release from the Chardon Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the crash involved three vehicles and an Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant on State Route 322 east of Auburn Road in Geauga County on Friday.
Troopers say the sergeant was outside his patrol car talking to someone he had stopped for a traffic violation when a driver ran his vehicle into the rear of the patrol car, pushing it into the pulled over car and then striking the sergeant, throwing him into the ditch.
The patrol car had the overhead emergency lights activated at the time.
And over the past two years on I-76, two more Troopers were injured due to move over crashes.
In one of the crashes, an OSP cruiser pulled off of into the median on I-76 in Jackson Township. A Dodge Charger struck a traffic sign, entered the eastbound lanes, went off the road and then struck a tree.
The Trooper was injured and taken to the hospital.
In the other crash, a Trooper stopped along the eastbound lane of I-76 in Jackson Township when a passenger vehicle struck the rear of the cruiser. The trooper was not in the cruiser at the time of the crash.
Ohio law states that all drivers should move over to an adjacent lane when approaching any vehicle with flashing or rotating lights parked on the roadside.
If moving over is not possible due to traffic or weather conditions, or because a second lane does not exist, motorists should slow down and proceed with caution.
Statistics from 2011 to 2015 indicate that factors like road conditions, impairment and location play a role in move over crashes in Ohio.
Alcohol, drugs or a combination of both played a role in 28 percent of these crashes.
Roads that are wet, snowy or icy accounted for 63 percent. And the vast majority of crashes - 79 percent - occurred on interstate, U.S. and state routes.
