Sheriff reminds motorists to slow down and move over

MT. PLEASANT — Sheriff Rich McNamee and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office take the month of March to encourage Henry County motorists to slow down, and move over.

“Our main project for the month of March is a move over project,” McNamee said at the March department head meeting. “It's becoming an increasing issue with drivers not moving over when there's cars stopped along the road, especially when their lights are flashing.”

Last October, the Mt. Pleasant community felt the reality of this when a distracted driver that failed to slow down and move over which resulted in the death of two construction crew members on a bridge in Burlington.

“I think if anybody's watching the news over the last couple of years, we have tragedies every day because of that,” McNamee added.

“So we're going to do a couple of projects in the month of March to try and bring light to that situation, maybe make some differences,” McNamee said.

“The law says if lights are flashing along any public roadway, you're supposed to slow down and move over whenever possible,” he said. “We're finding that that's just not happening.”

According to Iowa law, motorists must change lanes or slow down when approaching a stationary emergency vehicle that has its flashing lights activated, a stationary tow, recovery, maintenance, construction, solid waste or recycling collection vehicle that has its flashing lights activated, or any stationary motor vehicle, including a passenger vehicle with hazard lights.

“When a crash happens, our first priority is to work with emergency medical services to make sure all victims are quickly treated and out of harm’s way because it is not unusual for vehicles to not slow down or move over,” Chief of the Iowa State Patrol Chief Nathan Fulk said in a news release last November.

“Our troopers then investigate the crash and work with the Iowa DOT, local firefighters, our towing partners, and others to clear the crash scene as quickly as possible to reduce the likelihood of additional crashes that often occur due to drivers paying more attention to the initial crash scene than to the task of driving,” Fulk said.

“We encourage our citizens to slow down whenever there's a pedestrian or a car along the road, even if they don't have their lights on, even if it's the middle of the day or the middle of the night,” he said. “Slow down, move over, and use caution.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com