North American roadside worker safety initiatives

Safety organizations and government authorities in North America are conducting awareness campaigns to promote compliance with “move over” laws. These initiatives aim to protect roadside workers, emergency personnel, and highway professionals from vehicle strikes.

In mid-October, safety groups promoted “Slow Down, Move Over Day” to address a gap between driver intent and actual behavior. While surveys indicated high reported compliance, research showed that only 64% of vehicles actually changed lanes or reduced speed in practice. This campaign highlighted significant roadside fatalities, noting that over 2,100 people died while working or stranded on roadsides between 2019 and 2023.

By early November, authorities in New York and Virginia launched “Crash Responder Safety Week.” In New York, officials expanded laws to protect all vehicles stopped on the shoulder of parkways or controlled-access highways. In Virginia, the campaign responded to recent incidents, including the death of a Safety Service Patrol operator in September.