Deer-Grove EMS

Today’s emphasis is to educate drivers about Wisconsin’s Move Over laws and to help them learn safe driving behaviors around traffic incidents.

When approaching stationary responder vehicles on Dane County roadways, please reduce your speed and, if possible, change lanes to keep our emergency crews safe. Wisconsin’s State Statutes require drivers to Slow Down and Move Over. Reduce your speed and, if possible, change lanes to keep drivers, passengers, and roadside workers safe.

Wisconsin’s “Move Over Law” is found in State Statute 346.072 and requires drivers to provide a safety zone for stopped law enforcement, emergency, and maintenance vehicles with their warning lights flashing.

Drivers have two options to comply with the law:

• Move Over: If the road has more than one directional lane and it is safe to do so, you must move your vehicle into a lane that is not the lane nearest the stopped vehicle.
• Slow Down: If the road has a single directional lane, or if you cannot safely move over, you must reduce your speed, maintaining a safe speed for traffic conditions, and operate at a reduced speed until completely past the vehicle or machinery.

The law applies to a range of vehicles displaying flashing lights, including:

• Squad cars
• Ambulances
• Fire trucks
• Tow trucks
• Utility vehicles
• Highway maintenance vehicles

Emergency Response Area

An enhancement to the law, passed in December 2021 (Act 115), creates an “emergency response area” within 500 feet of an authorized emergency vehicle with lights on. In this area, the use of handheld cell phones is banned, and penalties for certain violations double.