COLUMBIA — Nearly 2,400 South Carolina drivers received tickets last week for failing to slow down or move over for emergency vehicles parked on the sides of highways, the Department of Public Safety said Monday.
The agency did a five-day ticketing “blitz” Monday through Friday after drivers struck three Highway Patrol troopers in the span of a month, killing one.
Within hours of a news conference Sept. 15 announcing the crackdown, a car hit a Berkeley County sheriff’s deputy on Interstate 26, leaving him with non-fatal injuries. The collisions came soon after the agency warned drivers to stay aware following several near-misses captured on video.
A state law often referred to as the Move Over Law requires drivers passing police, tow trucks, construction crews and other emergency vehicles parked on the side of the highway to “significantly reduce the speed” of their car or switch lanes if possible.
Highway Patrol officers went out in pairs last week, so that one could respond to whatever required the officer to pull off the highway and the other could pursue any drivers who didn’t get out of the way, said Col. Christopher Williamson, commander of the state Highway Patrol.
Highway Patrol officers gave out 1,766 tickets, which cost between $300 and $500, and 554 warnings during the five-day “Operation Keep Us Safe,” according to the department. The State Transport Police, which specializes in monitoring commercial vehicles, distributed 49 tickets. Local police and sheriff’s departments that reported numbers to the state agency wrote the remaining 617 tickets, according to department data.
The state Highway Patrol also issued 152 warnings to drivers for violating the hands-free driving law, which went into effect Sept. 1. Until February, officers will only issue warnings to people caught holding their phones while driving.
Although the official crackdown lasted only a week, Williamson warned last week that drivers should still expect to receive tickets for violating traffic laws, especially when putting others’ lives at risk.
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