Trooper's Mom Reaches Move Over Milestone At Howell Presentation

HOWELL, NJ — Donna Setaro has spoken to more than 860 audiences and, as of last week to more than 100,000 people. The message is the same for all of them: Move over.

"We just need that one person to tell someone or to remember the law when they come into that situation where they see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road," Setaro said in a video posted by New Jersey State Police this week.

Her goal is to spare other families the grief she has faced in the nearly eight years since her son, New Jersey State Trooper Marc Castellano, was struck and killed on Route 195 in Howell on June 6, 2010.

"That is what happened to my son Marc," Setaro says in the video. "Someone failed to slow down and move over."

Castellano, a graduate of Jackson Memorial High School who had been a state trooper for nearly 6 years, was part of a large group of law enforcement conducting a search in the area following a chase on the Garden State Parkway that night when he was hit whie he was on the shoulder of Route 195.

Since then, Setaro has been campaigning to drive home the message, particularly to young drivers, to slow down and move over when they approach an area where law enforcement or emergency personnel are operating.

In the State Police video, Setaro said she has given the presentation 861 times and Friday's presentation at Howell High School — the alma mater of Castellano's wife — in the town where he and his wife and children lived pushed the total number of people who have seen it to more than 100,000.

In her travels, she has realized that the vast majority of drivers in New Jersey are not aware of the law.

The law, New Jersey Statute 39:4-92.2, states:

The operator of a motor vehicle approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle as defined in R.S.39:1-1 that is displaying a flashing, blinking or alternating red or blue light or, any configuration of lights containing one of these colors, shall approach the authorized emergency vehicle with due caution and change lanes if safe to do so.

The Move Over law applies to police, fire and emergency medical services as well as highway maintenance, tow trucks and official motorist aid vehicles when they display flashing lights. An additional law was passed last year extending the protections to municipal vehicles such as garbage trucks.

The law includes situations where motorists must move over to give officers conducting traffic stops or tow truck drivers assisting broken-down motorists additional room to maneuver safely on foot near the shoulders of the road, according to a post on the Move Over law Facebook page. The fine for failing to move over is $100 to $500, according to the page.

On Friday, Setaro was joined by Howell Mayor Theresa Berger, Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling, Assemblywoman Joann Downey, officers from the Howell Police Department, New Jersey State Troopers, and members of the State Troopers Fraternal Association, who came out to mark the milestone.

"If you've never seen the presentation, know that it's heartbreaking. It's tough to hear, but it's supposed to be," the state police post said.

"If I get through to just one person and save one life, then this campaign was worth it," Setaro said.

Read more about the law here.

See the video marking the milestone below:

Photo from New Jersey State Police video