BATON ROUGE — There’s a new law in place in Louisiana drivers need to know about before getting behind the wheel.
Louisiana’s expanded move over law is now in place, requiring drivers to move over regardless of who is pulled over on the side of the road. Louisiana State Police posted about the new law on Facebook, explaining whether you see blue lights, amber lights, or a stranded driver’s flashing hazards, you have to move over and give them room.
“Louisiana’s law applies to any vehicle with its flashers on,” Don Redman, AAA Public Affairs Specialist said. “If it’s a police car, a tow truck, one of the map trucks, or it’s somebody on the sidewalk trying to change your flat tire, you need to, if it’s safe, get into another lane, or if you can’t, then slow down.”
According to the new law, if you’re on a highway with two or more lanes traveling the same direction, you should safely move into the lane farthest from the roadside vehicle. If you can’t safely change lanes or you’re on a two-lane highway, you should slow to a reasonably safe speed and maintain a safe speed for raod conditions.
“A reasonably safe speed will be about 20 miles under the posted speed limit,” Redman explained. “So if you’re on an interstate, the speed limit is about 70 miles an hour. A reasonably safe speed, if you can’t move over, is 50 miles an hour. You just want to minimize that risk of getting into another crash.”
The law continues to require drivers to yield the right-of-way to emergency vehicles using their lights and sirens, unless otherwise directed by a police officer.
“Unfortunately, in Louisiana, we lose three people a month who are on the side of the road by people not slowing down and not moving over,” Redman said. “It’s not just the law. It’s the right thing to do.”
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