By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
CHICAGO — The state of Illinois is installing a new notification system to help reduce the number of crashes caused by drivers failing to move over for vehicles with flashing emergency lights, according to a news release from Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.
To reduce the risk of injury to troopers and drivers stopped along the interstate, Illinois State Police (ISP) and the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) have teamed up with Google Public Sector to create a real-time, GPS-based alert system in popular apps such as Google Maps and Waze, the release said. This system notifies drivers of ISP traffic activity on the road, encouraging them to slow down and move over.
“The men and women of the Illinois State Police provide an invaluable service in keeping our highways safe, and we owe them every possible effort to ensure that safety is extended to them as well,” said Pritzker. “The tragic accidents that have injured and killed Illinois State Police officers cannot become an expected hazard of the job. Illinois drivers: slow down, pay attention and help our law enforcement officers stay safe while they save lives.”
Under Illinois’ Move Over Law, also called Scott’s Law, drivers must slow down and switch lanes when approaching emergency vehicles, highway maintenance vehicles with flashing lights or any vehicle stopped with hazard lights on.
“Too many Illinois State Police officers have been killed or injured in ‘Move Over’ crashes,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “In our determination to protect our troopers and prevent ‘Move Over’ crashes anyway we can, ISP partnered with the Department of Innovation & Technology and Google Public Sector on a real-time notification system that warns people of traffic issues ISP is handling on the road ahead. The advanced warning gives people time to slow down and move over, reducing the risk of a crash for both drivers and troopers.”
To notify drivers to slow down and move over, ISP will create an alert for incidents like crashes, traffic stops and road debris. The officer’s GPS location is sent to Google Cloud, which then pushes the information to Waze. As drivers approach the scene, they’ll see a notification on their map and be prompted to slow down and move over. The notification system will also be implemented on Google Maps in the coming weeks.
Since 2019, Move Over crashes have claimed the lives of two ISP troopers, seriously injured nine and left 51 others hurt.
On January 12, 2019, Trooper Christopher Lambert was assisting with a crash on I-294 when he was struck and killed by a vehicle that failed to slow down, despite his emergency lights being on.
On March 28, 2019, Trooper Brooke Jones-Story was conducting a safety inspection on U.S. Route 20 when a semi-truck hit her squad car. She was outside her vehicle with the emergency lights on and tragically lost her life in the crash.
