New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa joined former Super Bowl champion Tony Siragusa and other members of the New Jersey motoring community at Metlife Stadium to unveil the state’s renewed drive to highlight the importance of the Move Over Law.

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The state Division of Highway Traffic Safety has produced four, 30-second videos for airing on television and one, 30-second spot for the radio. There is also a five-minute web video featuring those who have either lost a loved one who worked on the roadside, or had a close call because a driver did not abide by the Move Over law.

Gary Poedubicky, the Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety says even though the Move Over law has been in effect since 2009, we continue to see many close calls.

“Our plea to the motoring public is to protect those who protect us and assist us by following this common sense law…When approaching a vehicle with a flashing light, drivers are required to move over, to create that empty lane next to the vehicle, and if they cannot change lanes, then they are to slow down,” he explained.

Jersey Attorney General Jeff Chiesa says, “We live in a state that’s densely populated, and we’re all in a hurry.  That’s the way we’re built, that’s the way this state’s energy goes…But the reason we’re able to be safe is because of the people that make our roads safe, so what we need to remember is those people on the sides of the road making our roads safe are our fathers, and our brothers and our sisters, and our mothers.  They deserve the chance to do their jobs safely every time- every time we see them we need to slow down.”

He says “I understand that people who enter the state police take on a huge responsibility.  When they take that job they understand that they are going to put their lives at risk so that we can be safe …But what I don’t get is why we as a state would want to make it any harder for them when they’re simply trying to do their jobs – making our roadways safer…We have an obligation, as a law-enforcement community, as a state to help make their jobs safer- and this is a very common-sense way to achieve that objective.”

Chiesa points out studies show that “When one car starts to move over because there’s something going on, on the side of the road other people follow, that’s what happens…slow down, and move over- because you’re going to encourage everybody behind you to do the same thing…It’s common sense, right? If someone is trying to help someone whose car has stalled, and everyone is going to be in that position at some point in their lives, right? If it’s a tow truck operator, if it’s the state police, or whoever it is – let them do their job safely…I hope that everybody in New Jersey will take note of this – and everybody should be talking about this- this is an easy thing for us to share with our friends and our families.”

Donna Setaro, the mother of state police trooper Marc Castellano, who was struck and killed by a motorist while responding to a roadside emergency says, “It’s my mission that no other family go through what our family has gone through…My son was inspiring…He was a great trooper, he absolutely loved his job and he got hit by a car by a good person – by somebody who simply wasn’t paying attention…Everybody’s in a hurry – I tell students part of this problem is time management- if you left a little more time, maybe you wouldn’t have to go so fast.”

To see all of the videos, you can visit the website.

 

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