Slow down and move over!
Friday, Aug 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ms. Frank did a terrific job yesterday…
The wife of a state trooper issued an impassioned plea to distracted drivers as Governor JB Pritzker signed a law to toughen enforcement of Scott’s Law.
Scott’s Law requires drivers to slow down and move over for first responders to protect them as they do their job.
“I got the phone call that every spouse of a first responder dreads and all they said is it’s bad, but he’s breathing,” said Lauren Frank, Illinois state trooper’s wife.
That phone call came on a snowy day in February. Illinois State Trooper Brian Frank made one final stop at the end of his shift to help a motorist. A driver doing 80 miles per hour on I-55 slammed into the back of Frank’s squad car, leaving him with traumatic brain injuries.
“Today Brian remains in a minimally conscious state. The roller coaster that we’ve been on for six months has been excruciating. And it was all preventable,” Frank said.
Preventable if the driver had slowed down and moved over as Scott’s Law requires.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Seventeen crashes involving Illinois state troopers or their vehicles have occurred in 2021 as a result of violations to the state’s traffic law known as “Scott’s Law.”
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Thursday, Senate Bill 1913, allowing judges to issue community service among other penalties to those violating the law, which requires drivers to slow down and change lanes when there is a first responder present with flashing lights stopped on the roadway. The measure was sponsored by Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, and Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville, and will take effect in January. […]
[Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly] said one of the laws signed by Pritzker, House Bill 3656, makes it easier to prosecute drivers violating the law.
That language says, “Drivers of vehicles approaching a stationary emergency vehicle in any lane shall heed the warning of the signal, reduce the speed of the vehicle, proceed with due caution, maintain a safe speed for road conditions, be prepared to stop, and leave a safe distance until safely passed the stationary emergency vehicle.”
That law, sponsored by Chicago Democrats Rep. Fran Hurley and Sen. Antonio Muñoz, also creates a “Move Over Early Warning Task Force” made up of members appointed by state agencies and law enforcement entities to study ways to better enforce road safety and alert drivers to hazards.
* CBS 2…
In addition to strengthening Scott’s Law, the state is making mental health services easier to access for paramedics, police and firefighters.
“Our first responders face intense physical and mental health challenges every single day on the job. We want our first responders and their loved ones to know the signs to know what they need and most importantly, to how to get help,” Pritzker said. […]
Emergency professionals experience higher rates of PTSD and depression than the general population.
- EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:18 am:
Isn’t there now another law on the books, similar to Scott’s Law, that requires you to move over if there’s a tow truck on the side of the road?
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:21 am:
No one should be driving over 70 anywhere. Very few people possess the reflexes, hand eye coordination, and sight to operate a vehicle faster than 70.
Also, and I know this may come as a shock to some, you, and your destination, are no more important than anyone else.
Hard to accept, but true.
- former southerner - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:25 am:
Every vehicle I own except for my 3/4 ton pickup has run flat tires because if people ignore flashing light bars on the side of the road, they certainly aren’t going to notice 4 way flashers on a car stopped for a tire change. I also found that obeying construction zone speed limits in Kentucky is something only those of us from other states respect.
- Because I said so.... - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:27 am:
EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham I sat next to a former tow truck driver in the House Chamber. He gave me chilling stats on the number to tow truck drivers injured on highways.
Slowing down and changing lanes seems like a common sense thing to do. Hopefully more people will abide by the law and protect those who are out there to help motorists.
- anon2 - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:35 am:
I hope the law provides for a stiffer penalty than community service for drivers who violate the law and cripple or kill troopers.
- SOIL M - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:39 am:
People drive like idiots on a regular basis. And all too often it is distracted driving. Strengthening these laws is needed due to, hopefully, make more people pay attention. And put your phone down. They are by far the leading factor in distracted driving.
I was on the scene of a fatal crash last night where a firefighter on post of the road closure and detour was very nearly hit by a truck that blew past barricades,the big red truck with lights flashing, and flares in thd road. He was wearing reflective clothing and holding a light set on strobe and came within inches of being run over by a driver who because he is an idiot payed no attention and drove around all of that.
Luckily his story doesn’t end like this Troopers, but came within inches of the same if not worse.
The only thing I can come up with to possibly make more people drive like they have some sense is to increase penalties. Revoke license. Impound vehicle. Impound phone or any other device that caused the distraction. Lifetime revocation of CDL.
Even that wont end it but perhaps stop some.
- SAP - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:44 am:
The navigation app on my phone alerts me to stopped vehicles on the side of the road, often before I see them. The extra time to move over helps a ton.
- Covid Solitary - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 9:54 am:
- No one should be driving over 70 anywhere -
Ok Ken.
I assume you know there are more than a few states with speed limits over 70, including Utah.
- Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 10:15 am:
The next time you approach slowed or stopped traffic on the interstate - please spend just as much time looking behind you as you in front of you.
And be ready to react if the car or worse truck that’s barreling down on you isn’t stopping or slowing down. That’s where the danger is.
- JS Mill - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 10:22 am:
=- No one should be driving over 70 anywhere -
Ok Ken.=
This is not the thread for snarky nonsense. You are right about the speed limits in some states, and I do regularly travel well above the limit, but this is a serious problem.
The the general intellectual level of our population continues to trend downward, so does the concept of other people and personal responsibility. It is sad but true.
Move over when you see people on the shoulder, simple as that.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 10:26 am:
Covid Solitary-
Where in my comment did I state there weren’t states with limits over 70?
Doesn’t make it a good idea.
Basically, if the limit is 70 or over, most will drive at least 5 MPH over that.
But you keep those ideas coming, apparently it’s your strong suit.
- thisjustinagain - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 10:38 am:
As a former first responder, I’ve had a driver pull into the oncoming lane of traffic with traffic coming trying to get around me and my vehicle, one who drove on the shoulder around me at a blocked intersection then wondered why I yelled at her to stop and back up (she did, amazingly, to tell me “I have to go that way”. A brief discussion why she couldn’t followed, along with why she drove around a fully-marked and illuminated police car, in broad daylight leading to a blank stare like she never saw me), and others who had no idea that “you aren’t going that way” actually applied to them. It’s more than distracted driving, or drunk driving, it’s people feeling entitled to ignore anything or anyone in their way because they are special even when they can’t drive in a straight line, except to hit someone or something.
- Anotheretiree - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 10:38 am:
-Cool papa- I’m also a little concerned about the implications on the interstate. You could be in a position to have to stop in the right lane because you cant move over. I’m thinking Its better to pull off to the right on the shoulder and wait for an opening. Stopping on the interstate is never a good idea.
- Trooper Wife - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 11:04 am:
Lauren Frank: “When you get into a vehicle, lay down your distractions. Lay down your hurry, lay down your phone. Lay it down,” Frank said. “Choose to love one another.”
- Al - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 11:43 am:
55 Saves Lives.
- Occasionally Moderated - Friday, Aug 13, 21 @ 4:10 pm:
Lauren and Brian are wonderful and smart people. She really did a spectacular job speaking on behalf of emergency workers and their families.
Lot of love from an old retired friend.