While Iowa laws on moving to the side of the road when seeing an emergency vehicle with its lights on have not changed, the punishment for violators has stiffened. For example, failure to move over a lane and slow down for a pulled over vehicle will cost you your license for 90 days if you create a crash, and hurting someone doubles the lost license time period to 180 days with a $500 fine. Should someone dies in the crash you could lose your license for a year and pay a $1,000 fine.
Perry Police Chief Dan Brickner feels that inadvertently, the tougher standards could lead to fewer accidents. “I don’t believe that the fines themselves or the tougher sanctions themselves will create a reduction in those types of instances. What may reduce those types of instances is the additional attention that they bring,” Brickner said. ” The more media coverage they get the more awareness they create, the better the public is educated as to the dangers of those situations.”
Hopefully Iowa will see a reduction in these accidents, as a number of careless driving accidents involving stationary vehicles on the side of the road have been in the new recently. Police Chief Brickner explained the need for a heightened level of awareness that law enforcement officers maintain during routine traffic stops. “I think officers are always on their guard in those situations. Nationwide the leading killer of police officers (my understanding) is being hit by a car, not being shot, stabbed, something like that, by a suspect. But its being struck at a traffic stop or an incident on the roadway,” Brickner stated.
Police Chief Brickner also reminds people that its important to keep focused on the road and make driving your vehicle your first and only priority when on the roads. “Distracted drivers, whether that be cell phone, texting, etc., whether that’s sleepy and tired drivers or whether they are impaired by some form of substance abuse I’m certain is a contributing factor,” Brickner cautioned. “Its just important to always, always be alert when a person is driving.”
The new consequences for violating Iowa’s Move Over Law went into affect July 1st.