NORTHEAST OHIO — Saturday is National Move Over Day, and Ohio State Highway Patrol and AAA tell drivers that this law is a matter of life or death.
Move Over and Slow Down became law in Ohio in 1999. It requires drivers to move over when they see a stopped public safety vehicle or roadside worker with flashing lights. If changing lanes is not possible, drivers must slow down.
OSHP Sergeant Jeremy Kindler said doing one of these simple actions could allow someone to make it home that night.
"There's people outside on the side of the road working alongside of traffic that are traveling at highway speeds," he said. "These people have families. They want to go home at the end of the day, just like everybody who is traveling."
According to Ohio State Highway Patrol, from 2020 to 2024, OSHP cruisers were involved in 55 move-over related crashes. Those crashes resulted in two civilian deaths and left 16 troopers and 29 civilians injured.
So far in 2026, OSHP says there have been 3,338 move-over related crashes and violations. None of the crashes have been fatal.
A move-over related crash happened Wednesday night in Canton along Interstate 77. According to Ohio State Highway Patrol, Canton Fire was responding to a crash and blocking several lanes on the highway. That's when a 38-year-old driver crashed onto a vehicle operated by Canton Fire Officer Christopher Burkhardt. The driver suffered serious injuries.
"I tell people all the time," Canton Fire Battalion Chief Dan Reed said. "I'm more concerned about losing a firefighter on the freeway than I am in a fire, so it's very scary out there."
AAA is also doing its part to help remind drivers. Data from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Research says that flashing reminders double the adherence to move-over laws. The company has installed digital message signs flashing "move over or slow down" onto their tow trucks and service vehicles.
