It involves the use of variable message signs.
Baltimore, Md (KM) AAA is starting up an effort to get drivers to slow down and move over if possible when they come upon disabled motorists along the side of the road.
Ragina Ali, spokeswoman for AAA in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC, says research by the AAA Foundation has found that 95 percent of drivers slow down when variable message signs are illuminated on tow trucks and other vehicles.; “It’s huge, huge lettering across the tops of the trucks. It’s mobile signage, and it’s intended to alert drivers to slow down and move over away from the roadsides,” she says.
Ali says AAA will use these trucks where possible when responding to crashes or disabled vehicles.;
She also says too many drivers do not operate their vehicles safely when out on the highways; “It’s a combination people driving at a high rates of speed, being distracted and sometimes being impaired,” says Ali.
Every state has a move over law requiring drivers who come upon a disabled motorist or another emergency on the toad side to slow down, and move into the next lane if that’s possible.
Ali says it’s important for all motorists to pay strict attention to their driving not just during April when it’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month, but everyday “We need people to put down their phones, to put down their drinks or whatever else they may be consuming,” she says. “If you’ve had a drink, if you’ve been drinking or engaging in any other sort of drugs–even sometimes you take medication—-getting behind the wheel is not the place to be.”
By Kevin McManus