Various OPP detachments in the area have begun a traffic initiative for the Civic Day long weekend. The main focus of the weekend will be the move over law and the big 4.
The big four consists of unsafe driving behaviours, like not wearing seatbelts, aggressive driving, inattentive and distracted driving, and driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
"The move over law requires a driver to move over to another lane when they approach an emergency vehicle or a tow truck," said Constable Krista Linthorne, community safety and media officer with Grey Bruce OPP. "If it's not safe to move into the other lane, if there's oncoming traffic, you must slow down when passing."
Linthorne said there's no set speed to slow down to, but she has a suggestion.
"I would suggest slowing down as much as possible to pass that vehicle because you never know when an officer or driver may exit their vehicle or if a tow truck driver is working in the driving lane," she said. "You want to make sure that you're not going fast enough to strike someone. Slow down enough so you can stop if someone does come onto the roadway."
This law is a big focus of the OPP, especially this weekend, because there have been many instances of drivers not seeing a pulled over vehicle.
"The OPP has seen a lot of vehicles being struck from behind, our own personal police vehicles, from drivers that may not see our lights or are not attentive enough to see the lights," said Linthorne. "We're trying to reduce any risk of personal injury to officers and tow truck drivers."
The fine for failing to move over or slowdown when passing an emergency vehicle or tow truck is $490 with a penalty of three demerit points.
The traffic initiative begins August 4 and runs until August 7.
