SOUTHINGTON — “Moving over” isn’t just being a courteous driver, it’s the law in work zones on Ohio roads.

That was the message as Ohio State Highway Patrol and Ohio Department of Transportation officials recently talked about enforcement of a law that has been on the books for about five years.

Patrol Sgt. Ray Santiago said this enforcement effort called “Move Over, Slow Down” is crucial as the summer road construction schedule heats up and the number of motorists will increase, especially for the summer travel season.

On May 20, the patrol partnered with ODOT crews in a work zone on a leg of Interstate 80 in Hubbard Township to enforce the law that calls for motorists who encounter flashing vehicles to go off the side of the road either to move over to a further lane of traffic, or if that’s not possible, to slow down and proceed with caution, Santiago said.

“It’s not only the law; it’s the right thing to do,” Santiago said, noting that during some three-plus hours of enforcement that morning on I-80, approximately 10 motorists were issued citations. At another “Move Over, Slow Down” enforcement zone with ODOT on Interstate 76 in Summit County, Santiago said eight more motorists were issued citations.

While doing the enforcement, Santiago said patrol crews activated their body cameras to record potential violators.

Santiago said the law applies not only to ODOT work crews, but to any vehicle with flashing lights, such as ambulances, utility crews and tow trucks.

Since the law was initiated in 2017, hundreds of crashes have involved personnel, equipment or vehicles on roads, with two fatalities. Santiago said the patrol has issued more than 26,000 violations to Ohio motorists during this time.

According to Ray Marsch, ODOT District 4 public information officer, for 2021, ODOT experienced 154 incidents involving personnel, equipment or vehicles with motorists not moving over.

“So far this year, we have had 83 incidents, and we are not even into the summer months,” Marsch said. “But the number we are looking for is zero, because we are talking about mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters as part of our crew. Motorists have to consider that child waiting for his dad to come home and take him to a ballgame or the daughter who is waiting for mom to come home to help her get ready for prom.”

Santiago said motorists have to remember to be careful because “the roadway is our workplace,” and not abiding by the “Move Over, Slow Down” law has become a problem in Ohio.