Ontario Provincial Police are asking motorists in the London region to be mindful of emergency response personnel and vehicles after charging nearly 100 people for failing to move over or slow down on the roadway last week.
West region OPP launched a “move over” law campaign Feb. 13-16 to enforce and educate drivers on what to do when approaching an emergency response vehicle on the side of the road with lights flashing.
OPP laid 284 charges, including 95 for failing to move over, 99 for speeding and four for stunt driving during the four-day blitz.
Acting Inspector Ross Stuart says the number of charges is both good and bad news.
“Unfortunately, some motorists are either unaware of the law or they choose to ignore it,” said Stuart during a briefing Wednesday. “This puts all first responders at significant danger along the roadside.”
While OPP charged nearly 100 drivers, Stuart says the good news is that number represents a small minority of all drivers on the roadways.
“Being on the highways, doing enforcements with other officers, I saw hundreds and hundreds of vehicles that were doing exactly what they needed to do based on the law,” added Stuart.
In Ontario, drivers can be charged if they do not move over (if on a multi-lane roadway) and slow down when passing emergency vehicles or tow trucks that are stopped with sirens or lights flashing.
For the first offence of failing to move over, drivers can be fined between $400 and $2,000, earn three demerit points if convicted and possibly have their driver’s licence suspended for up to two years. Subsequent offences escalate the fines to between $1,000 and $4,000 and possible jail time of up to six months, along with demerit points and licence suspension.
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The campaign was launched last week after six OPP cruisers were struck by motorists between Dec. 23, 2022, and Feb. 4, resulting in minor injuries for one officer. Stuart says that while they feel lucky only one officer was injured, luck is not something they want to rely on for safety along the roads.
“It’s easy to see how these could have been situations that quickly turned into tragedies, whether that is serious injuries or frankly, even death,” Stuart said.
Since 1989, five OPP officers have been killed in the line of duty on the roadside when they or their vehicles were hit by approaching vehicles. Two of the officers, Senior Constable James McFadden and Sergeant Marg Eve, worked in the west region.
Stuart says while people are required to slow down and move over, they should only move to another lane when it is safe to do so.
“We’re not looking for anybody to cut anybody off or move rapidly in front of another vehicle unannounced,” said Stuart.
If unable to move over safely, Stuart says drivers should still slow down and be very cautious when passing the emergency vehicle.
The next “move over” law campaign will be during the civic holiday weekend in August. Stuart added the law will continue to be a priority in the coming weeks and months.