CLIENT ALERT – Move Over, Maryland!

October 1 is when the majority of laws enacted by the Maryland legislature in the preceding session take effect.

This year, a new law takes effect October 1 in an attempt to reduce serious personal injuries from automobile accidents.

Previously, Maryland drivers only had to move over for stopped emergency vehicles and tow trucks who were attending to an accident or disabled vehicle.  The law required drivers to slow and move as far to the left or right as possible (while staying on their side of a double yellow line) from a stopped emergency vehicle or tow truck displaying flashing lights.

The expanded “move over” law now in effect is no longer limited to a stopped emergency vehicle or tow truck.  The “move over” law now includes “all vehicles”.  In other words, if you see a stopped vehicle of any kind on the road, with hazard flashers on or not, you must slow and move as far to the left or right as possible (while staying on their side of a double yellow line) from the stopped vehicle.

The purpose of the law is saving lives and preventing serious injury.  Serious injury cases were rising resulting from collisions with stopped motorists.

If you see a vehicle that is stopped or parked and displaying hazard warning lights, road flares, cones, or other caution signs, you must move over or slow down for safety.

At Bulman Dunie, we remain vigilant for how this new law will come into play in personal injury and negligence litigation. In these civil cases, a violation of law can be used as proof of negligence under certain circumstances. We often rely on driver safety laws to prove that a driver who causes a crash was negligent. The expanded law could be used to prove negligence of a driver who failed to abide by the law and caused a crash and injury which otherwise could have been avoided had the driver moved over.

Please reach out to BDBF Partner Dan Shaivitz at (301) 656-1177 or dshaivitz@bulmandunie.com if you or someone you know has been the victim of someone else’s negligence on the roadway.