Motorists: Slow Down, Move Over When Approaching Stopped Vehicles

Merging into the lane farthest from a stopped vehicle is not only courtesy and common sense, it's the law.

A commercial truck narrowly missed a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who was filling out paperwork for the driver of a pickup stopped for speeding on eastbound Interstate 80 west of Rock Springs about 8:30 a.m. Monday, according to a news release from Patrol Sgt. David Wagener.

But the truck crashed into the stopped pickup.

Neither the driver nor the passenger, both from Northglenn, Colo., in the pickup were seriously injured. However, the driver was checked for minor injuries by an ambulance crew at the scene and required no further treatment.

The driver of the commercial truck, Brian Puffpaff, of Layton, Utah, was not injured. Puffpaff said he was reaching for a bottle of water when he struck the pickup.

He was cited for failing to maintain a single lane and for not moving over for a parked emergency vehicle.

Wyoming's "Move Over Law" states drivers must slow down and move over when approaching a parked emergency vehicle with activated visual signals.

When motorists are on an interstate or highways with two or more lanes, they are to to merge into the farthest lane away from the emergency vehicle.

When motorists are approaching an emergency vehicle with activated visual signals that are parked on the shoulder of a two-lane road, they are expected to slow to a speed 20 mph less than the posted speed limit.