WSP To Conduct 'Slow Down, Move Over' Emphasis This Weekend

BELLEVUE, WA — Do you know what to do if you see a police car pulled over along the highway? If not, you're going to want to keep reading, or else you might end up with a hefty ticket.

Washington State Patrol will conduct an emergency zone emphasis this weekend. It's meant to highlight a state law that requires drivers to give space to emergency vehicles pulled over along state and interstate highways.

Under the law, drivers should switch lanes if there's an emergency vehicle pulled over — that can include tow trucks, ambulances, WSDOT roadside assistance trucks, police cars, or construction equipment. If it's not possible to change lanes, drivers should slow down and make an effort to pass the pulled-over vehicle safely.

Fail to do this, and you're looking at a $214 fine, and it's non-negotiable.

According to WSP, 4,764 drivers committed a move-over law violation in 2018. Even with the law, hundreds of emergency vehicles have been hit.

One of those was crashes involved Rob Shepherd, a WSDOT engineer. He was working with a soil-sampling crew in March along SR 3 when a semi crushed his pickup truck. Shepherd was not in the truck — in fact, he exited the vehicle one minute before the crash — otherwise he would have been killed.