Safety experts remind drivers about ‘Move Over Law' after three workers killed on I-91
Three dead, driver arrested following crash on I-91 ramp in West Springfield
'It takes a quick second for someone not to be paying attention and veer into the lane where we're working for disaster to strike,' said Operations Manager for Red's Towing, Ben Scott.
This risk was tragically realized when three workers were struck and killed while working to repair damaged guardrails on I-91 North. And Red Towing in West Springfield seeing similar close calls way too often.
'There's been many instances of jumping guardrails, close calls, clippings. Luckily, we've been okay. Nobody's gotten hurt. But yeah, there's been a lot of close calls,' said Scott.
The towing company tells 22News that a towing operator is injured once every 5 days on average. Between 2020 to 2024 there were nearly 10-thousand crashes there involving work zones, according to AAA. 28 people were killed in those crashes and almost 2-thousand people suffered from injuries.
'By the time they come upon that work crew or that first responder or that tow truck, they're going too fast and it's too late to react appropriately,' said AAA Northeast spokesperson, Mark Scheildrop.
To prevent further tragedies, the Massachusetts Move Over Law' is now being stressed to drivers. Experts say in multilane roadways, if you see the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle or towing truck near the side of the road, slow down and move over into the next lane if possible.
'We should be doing it out of practice and just out of courtesy of other people treating anybody on the roadside like it's one of our family members,' said Scheildrop.
AAA hopes if more people follow this law it will protect those who protect us by giving them space to work safely. Failure to comply with the law can result in a fine of up to $100.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
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