Officials with AAA Bluegrass have asked the Kentucky state legislature to expand the Commonwealth’s “Slow Down, Move Over” law to include motorists who are stranded on the side of the highway.
Currently, Kentucky’s law covers first responders, along with construction workers and their vehicles.
Lori Weaver Hawkins is the Public Affairs Manager with AAA Bluegrass. She said it’s important to at least slow down when passing any sort of vehicle pulled over on the shoulder, and when possible, move over to the next lane.
“There’s only about two feet of space, if you can believe that, between where the vehicle is sitting in an emergency shoulder – lane – and where traffic is going by,” she said. And that is not enough room to have them be there safely.”
Weaver Hawkins said between 2017 and 2021, nearly 2,000 stranded motorists were struck and killed by passing vehicles nationally, and 30 of those fatalities occurred in Kentucky. Additionally, tow drivers nationwide experience a fatality every other week, on average.
“Distracted driving and impaired driving are two of the biggest reasons that these sort of incidents occur, where we have somebody roadside hit by passing motorists because they’re either distracted or they’re impaired,” she said.
Weaver Hawkins also said she recommends drivers keep an emergency kit in their car year-round for an extra layer of safety in the event they become stranded on the highway.
“This would allow you to have, in that vehicle, some reflective triangles or flares that you can set out if your vehicle is disabled,” she said. “Also, I’ve been telling people to get one of those reflective vests.”
Weaver Hawkins said it’s typically safer to stay inside a vehicle that has become stranded on the shoulder, except in the event of heavy snowfall that could cause passing motorists to slide into the disabled vehicle.