Staff report
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Senate Bill 137 passed the General Assembly in December and is now in effect which means Ohio motorists will have to do more to share the road with others. The bill expanded the “Move Over Law” to include approaching construction, maintenance and public utilities commission vehicles when driving.
The new regs require drivers to slow down and when possible move into an adjacent lane of traffic when those vehicles are parked on the roadside with flashing, oscillating or rotating lights. Since 2008, more than 600 collisions occurred between the travelling public and ODOT vehicles and equipment. Motorists have had to make the same consideration for emergency and law enforcement vehicles for several years.
ODOT Director Jerry Wray says the expanded Move Over Law is a critical step to improving the safety of workers.
An incident in April 2013 resulted in the death of 27-year-old Lee Rizor, a father of two and a five-year veteran of ODOT’s workforce. Just 15 months earlier, a similar tragedy occurred on the Ohio Turnpike when a tractor trailer plowed into a maintenance crew in rural Fremont, killing John Fletcher who had worked for the Turnpike for 28 years, and seriously injuring two other employees. Due to the extent of their injuries, neither of these Turnpike workers have been able to resume their employment.