Enforcement picks up for 2002 law meant to protect police officers, Minuteman road-assistance trucks and other emergency responders
By Jon Hilkevitch
The Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — The trucker was deadheading his empty 18-wheeler to Iowa to pick up a load when he saw the flashing lights of an Illinois State Police squad car behind him in the driver’s side mirror.
He was minding his business on the Veterans Memorial Tollway (Interstate Highway 355) in Chicago’s southwest suburbs when he realized the police car was going after him in the “granny lane,” or the far right lane meant for slow traffic, said the truck driver, who asked to be identified only as Jerry K.
The problem for him was that he didn’t see the trooper earlier, stopped on the right emergency shoulder with his red and blue warning lights still flashing after completing a traffic stop involving another motorist. And the truck driver failed to either slow down or change lanes to yield to the police car.
For that, he became one of the hundreds of motorists cited this year in an aggressive new effort by the state police to enforce a traffic law enacted earlier this decade.
It’s more than a safety gesture to give a wide berth to police officers, Minuteman road-assistance trucks and other emergency responders stopped at the side of the highway with warning lights illuminated. It’s more than common sense.
It’s the law in Illinois and has been since 2002, when existing statutes were made tougher to protect police, emergency response personnel and highway workers.
But many drivers apparently are unaware of the law, or they are slow to grasp that an initial education campaign is now focused on enforcement.
“I got me a $100 ticket,” Jerry K. said, “even though I told the officer I never seen the gum-ball machine on his cruiser going till it was too late.”
State troopers have issued more than 1,770 tickets statewide so far this year for violation of Scott’s Law, according to state police records.
That’s way up from only 74 tickets written in the entire state in 2005.
Scott’s Law, also known as the Move Over Law, requires a driver to change lanes, if it is safe to do so, or to reduce speed and proceed with caution when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle displaying flashing warning lights.
The law was named in memory of Chicago Fire Department Lt. Scott Gillen, who was fatally injured by a drunken driver while working at a crash on the Bishop Ford Freeway in 2000. Gillen, 37, was the father of five children.
“It happened on my crash,” said State Police Sgt. Juan Valenzuela, who was assigned to the initial accident. “The driver who hit Gillen missed me by a little bit. It was a long night that I still don’t like to talk about very much.”
Of the Scott’s Law citations this year, 640, or more than one-third of the state total, were issued in the six-county Chicago area.
Last year, 3,738 citations were issued statewide, including 949 tickets in the Chicago area, according to state police.
More than 19,000 tickets and warnings have been issued since the legislation was enacted six years ago, officials said.
Violations carry a minimum $100 fine upon conviction and a maximum fine of $10,000 and a two-year license suspension if the driver contributes to a death.
“There’s a big push right now in our department for enforcement and awareness of Scott’s Law,” Valenzuela said. “If you see rotating lights, slow down, check your mirrors and go to the adjacent lane if you can.”
That would be the smart and financially prudent thing to do.
Several readers who contacted Getting Around after receiving Scott’s Law tickets said they felt they were tricked by lone police cars waiting to trap drivers.
None of the readers, however, said they tried that theory in court. The best advice is to be alert for flashing lights and steer clear of trouble.
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Tribune