'Move Over' Safety Law Gets Extra Attention From Law Enforcement This Labor Day Holiday Weekend

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - With the last long weekend of the summer expected to have even more people traveling on Colorado's roadways, an effort is underway to enforce the state's 'Move Over' safety law. Along the 47 miles of E-470, troopers will be working with the maintenance team to catch drivers breaking the law.

"We do have issues with close calls pretty frequently," said Ben Thurkill, the Manager of Roadway Management for the E-470 Public Highway Authority. "We definitely need the public's cooperation. We need them to move over when they see our flashing lights in order to keep us safe. We all want to go home at the end of the day to our families as well."

Colorado's Move Over law isn't just for police and fire crews, the law protects all emergency, tow, maintenance, and utility vehicles on the roadway with flashing lights.

E-470 employs a team of 20 people that monitor the roadway for motorists who run out of gas or need help with changing a tire. They also maintain the toll road to keep it free from debris.

Last Monday night, a maintenance worker was nearly killed as he removed rolls of carpet from the roadway that had fallen out of a truck. The worker had his lights on from his maintenance truck and had a Colorado State Patrol trooper behind him with lights on, still a driver did not move one lane over and nearly killed the worker.

"He was pretty shaken up about it he had some minor injuries but nothing too bad, he was out of work for a few days," Thurkill said.

This weekend, Colorado State Patrol will have extra enforcement on E-470 focused on catching drivers who don't slow down or move over. The fine is $167 and carries 3 points on someone's driver's license.

Thurkill says too many life-threatening close-calls have happened recently for his staff, "We have policies and procedures in place to try and mitigate any potential issues like that but it is part of the job, unfortunately. It's never a good thing to see one of your guys almost get run over."