http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06249/719275-147.stm
Motorists beware: steer clear or pay big
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If there’s a police car, ambulance, tow truck or work crew in the way on the highway, steer clear.
Motorists who don’t can be fined up to $250 each and, if involved in an accident at the site, would automatically lose their driver’s licenses for 90 days, according to a new section of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code that goes into effect Friday.
In addition, fines will be doubled for more than a dozen other infractions relating to reckless driving, stopping, following too closely, passing, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, failing to obey people directing traffic and failing to heed signals – provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code already used to penalize careless and unsafe actions.
The “Steer Clear Law” is formally known as “Duty of Driver in Emergency Response Areas.”
“It has always been the common sense thing to do, particularly on high-speed highways,” Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said of slowing down and moving to another lane. “Now it’s the law.”
The new rule when approaching or passing emergency response areas is not to drive at a speed “greater than is reasonable or prudent under the conditions” and not to disobey instructions relating to traffic flow, whether they are flashing lights, flares, signals and signs or police and emergency service providers.
It is aimed mostly at expressways and widened, rebuilt stretches of Route 22.
State Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said existing laws afford protection only where an emergency is occurring.
“This new law will extend that protection to routine traffic stops by police and towing or other services of vehicles that have broken down, as well as maintenance and construction crews working along roadways,” he said.
“If people can’t move into the far lane, they need to slow down to a safe speed, so we can protect the lives of people who are out there doing their jobs on the highways.”
Mr. Kirkpatrick said, “When vehicles are pulled over, police or emergency responders often have to walk into travel lanes, so passing motorists need to give them as much room as possible. While most people do, there was a feeling in the Legislature that the matter needed to be codified.”
While the new law will require drivers to “pass in a lane not adjacent to that of the emergency response area,” that is not always possible.
In those cases, such as on a two-lane road, the law directs drivers to pass “at a careful and prudent reduced speed reasonable for safely passing.” That can mean stopping and yielding to oncoming cars and trucks until the path is clear.
The Motor Vehicle Code defines “emergency service responder” as a police officer, sheriff, coroner, firefighter, fire police, medical examiner, rescue personnel, emergency medical personnel, hazardous materials response teams, fire marshals, and maintenance and construction personnel.