CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Police Department set up scene along the freeway Tuesday morning involving a tow truck working an accident scene on the shoulder. They wanted to see if people would obey the state's move over law.
At the end of the day, police wrote around 125 tickets and said if they had more manpower, they could have written more.
Police safety enforcement operations started at 8 a.m. along I-37 and Corn Products Road while a camera was out at 358 and Bates Road. The tow truck was set up in the center shoulder with the truck's lights on and the operator standing nearby loading a vehicle.
Since 2013, drivers by law have had to either move over or slow down by 20 miles per hour for a tow truck with flashing lights. Towers are to be treated the same as other first responders, such as police cars and fire trucks.
In over 2.5 hours, 14 police officers at both sites were able to make a total of 91 traffic stops and handed out 125 tickets. Those included violations for things like not having a driver's license or no insurance.
Officials from Apollo Towing said drivers not slowing down or moving over for tow trucks is a big problem. Since 2012, 515 tow truck drivers have been killed out on highway across the nation.
"We need to make sure they're just as safe as we are because they're working for us and trying to help us open the roadways fast," CCPD Sgt. Karl Wright said.
"The operators are out here performing their services for the motoring community. Their lights are on. They've done everything they can do to give you an advanced warning. Unfortunately, traffic is not slowing down or moving over, and ultimately not paying attention," said Michael Staff, vice president of Apollo Towing.
According to Staff, one driver who didn't get caught Tuesday morning was clocked going 94 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone and never moved over. If you don't move over, you have to slow down by 20 miles per hour, so the driver was going nearly 50 miles per hour over the move over the speed limit.
Staff said the truck came within a foot of the tow truck's bumper. The reason the driver was not stopped was because officers had their hands full handing out tickets at the time to other drivers who were stopped for not following the move over law.
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