MONTREAL – This summer, Quebec will join the vast majority of North American jurisdictions, compelling motorists to slow down and change lanes when they come upon emergency vehicles.
That includes police cars, fire trucks, ambulances and tow trucks with flashing lights, as well as Transport Quebec trucks carrying illuminated directional arrows. The penalty for violators: a fine of $200 to $300, plus four demerit points.
Since 2008, four Sûrété de Québec officers have been killed by passing motorists and 214 SQ cars stopped on highways have been rammed by other vehicles, according to Quebec Transport Minister Pierre Moreau.
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The change in the law, adopted by the National Assembly Thursday and expected to take effect in late July or August, was welcome news to Urgences Santé paramedic Patrick Dufresne, who has campaigned for a so-called “move- over” law here.
He started researching such laws in 2005 after treating a Sûreté du Québec officer hit by a passing vehicle while standing on a highway shoulder. The officer survived.
Dufresne learned most jurisdictions had or were about to introduce laws compelling drivers to change lanes when emergency vehicles or tow trucks were stopped on highways.
Today, eight Canadian provinces have such laws, according to the Canadian Automobile Association. Forty-nine U.S. states also have move-over laws, says Move Over, America, a coalition promoting such laws.
In the U.S., since 1999, more than 150 law-enforcement officers have died after being struck by passing vehicles while standing on highway shoulders, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
When SQ officer Vincent Roy was hit and killed by a passing truck while giving a ticket to a motorist on a highway in Bromont in December, Dufresne was haunted by memories of the SQ officer he had treated years earlier.
“I didn’t understand why Quebec still didn’t have a move-over law,” Dufresne said in an interview.
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