The Wyoming Highway Patrol will be joining a national effort on May 26 to remind motorists to move over when passing parked emergency responder vehicles.

The ''Move Over'' safety campaign was started by the Virginia State Police in an effort to remind drivers of the importance of giving parked emergency responders plenty of room as they do their jobs.

WHP Colonel Kebin Haller has agreed to have the Wyoming Patrol join that effort as well.

Sgt. Kyle McKay of the WHP is reminding people that state law requires motorists to move over to the farthest lane over from the parked vehicle if there are two or more lanes traveling in the direction of the emergency vehicle.

On a two lane road, vehicles are required to slow down to 20 miles less than the posted speed limit as the driver passes the emergency vehicles.

Violators can be fined $220, and McKay says the patrol writes a lot of citations for people who break that law.

The law doesn't apply if a police officer orders drivers to disregard those rules, as at an accident scene where an officer may be directing traffic.

Sgt. McKay says five WHP vehicles have been hit already this year because motorists didn't follow the law, and seven were hit in 2016. When all emergency responder vehicles are factored in, 1,970 such crashes have been reported in the state since 2008.

To bring awareness to the problem the WHP will be using variable message signs on Friday reminding people about the law. The patrol will also be posting messages on social media using the hashtag #Moveover17.

McKay says troopers will also especially be keeping an eye put for violators over the busy Memorial Day weekend as well as the rest of the year.

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