May 20, 2021 2 min read

State troopers joined Rostraver Township police earlier this week in making a plea to motorists to slow down or move over a lane when approaching a traffic stop or emergency situation.

“We’re putting our lives in other motorists’ hands,” Trooper Robert Broadwater said during Tuesday’s media event at the Rostraver barracks.

The event was held to also remind the public that the state’s updated Move Over Slow Down Law calls for higher fines and license suspensions for violating the law. Penalties are increased for crashes that cause death or serious injury, the state Department of Transportation said.

The law requires motorists to slow to a speed no more than 20 mph below the posted limit. Sometimes it’s not possible to safely move into another lane in such situations, PennDOT spokesman Jay Ofsanik said.

The violations now call for a $500 fine for the first offense and $1,000 for a second. A third offense carries a $2,000 fine and 90-day license suspension.

State police Lt. Steve Driscoll said an off-duty police officer suffered a concussion in February when he was struck by a car whose driver didn’t slow down at an accident scene on the Speers-Belle Vernon Bridge.

Lt. John Christner said a woman who used her cellphone to video a traffic stop on Route 51 drove into the rear of another vehicle.

“Today, society is more busier than ever before and there are a lot of distractions,” Driscoll said. “Once you make that mistake you can’t take it back.”