CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Police Department is sending out a friendly reminder that if you see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road, move over.
It's actually a state law and it's not only police or firefighters you have to watch out for.
CCPD have stepped up efforts to make sure drivers obey the law.
"We have a dangerous enough job as it is," CCPD Lt. Timothy Frazier said. "Don't make it more dangerous. Help us out. Move over."
Frazier knows first-hand the consequences of what can happen when drivers don't move over for an emergency vehicle.
"I've personally, when I began my career, I was actually hit by a car on the side of the highway. Luckily it was just the rear-view mirror that clipped me, so it wasn't that bad, but it was a scary situation," Frazier said. "That was before the move-over law."
The state law requires drivers to move over for emergency vehicles, or if you can't move over, to slow down to 20 miles per hour below the speed limit.
"Let's say you are on I-37 where it's 75 mph, and you see an emergency vehicle or any vehicle I just described, and you can't move over. That means you have to slow down to 55 mph," Frazier said.
The law isn't only for police, but also firefighters, ambulances, and most recently, tow trucks and roadwork crews.
"It's a very dangerous situation because even tow truck drivers are hit and killed because people don't want to move over," Frazier said.
Since 2012, more than 500 tow truck workers nationwide have been killed out on the highways. In an effort to reduce those numbers, the Corpus Christi Police Department is working on public service announcements and even operations to raise awareness. For instance, when CCPD set up a tow truck on a local freeway to check and see if drivers would obey the move-over law.
The result: More than 100 people were ticketed.
"It is just common sense. You don't want to hit them, especially at that highway speed," Frazier said. "Just move over. It's common sense and the law."
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