Tuesday, October 03, 2006
ContraCostaTimes.com | 09/24/2006 | New state law promotes highway safety
Governor reverses his stance by signing bill that requires motorists to slow down and change lanes to avoid roadside emergency
By Gary Richards
MEDIANEWS
Less than a year after he vetoed a bill requiring California drivers to move over or slow down when approaching a roadside emergency along state highways, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed course and signed the 'Move Over, Slow Down' legislation.
The bill sponsored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, mirrors laws in 37 states and goes into effect Jan. 1.
'I am gratified by the governor's signature of this common sense solution to a preventable problem,' Simitian said in a news release. 'This bill is about promoting highway safety, plain and simple. I hope that it will put a stop to the senseless deaths of police officers, tow truck drivers, paramedics, and other emergency personnel who are simply helping stranded motorists.'
The law was the brainchild of tow truck driver Daniel Leon of Hayward.
The governor vetoed the bill last year, saying that forcing drivers to change lanes could pose additional risks in a state where traffic congestion is among the worst in the country. At the time, Schwarzenegger called the bill 'unnecessary' and said it 'could result in the unintended consequences of additional roadway hazards' by causing unnecessary lane changes.
In the past five years, errant drivers have killed a dozen police officers and state road workers. Since 1924, nearly 200 have been killed.
In Florida, a law enacted in 2002 is promoted on billboards and electronic signs, and troopers hand out pamphlets explaining it. No officers have been killed by errant drivers since.
The national "Move Over" campaign took off in earnest, six years ago, led partly by Lara Feinberg, whose husband is a state trooper in North Carolina. After his partner was killed in a roadside accident, she led the effort to enact legislation in that state and others.
Labels: California, Florida, North Carolina, Traffic School
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