SHP, NCDOT remind drivers to move over for emergency vehicles

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- State Highway Patrol and North Carolina Department of Transportation are reminding drivers to move over the next time you pass a stopped emergency vehicle with flashing lights.

The two agencies teamed up to create a video message that says drivers aren't always following the law and that can cause life-threatening situations.

A few weeks ago, Trooper Joseph Atwell was helping deputies with a suspected drunk driver on a Wake County highway when another suspected drunk driver failed to move over.

"I was walking around my vehicle. I was going to get in the driver's side," Atwell said. "The sheriff's deputy stopped and asked me one question and it stopped me just long enough to pause and then that vehicle hit my car. If he hadn't have asked me that question that would've been my body."

The move over law says if you are unable to move over because of the traffic conditions you have to significantly reduce your speed.