Move Over, Little Neck (For Safety's Sake)

Chances are many motorists already follow a new traffic regulation taking effect on state highways Jan. 1.

Signed by former Gov. David Paterson last summer, the new law requires drivers to move into an empty lane away from police and other emergency vehicles stopped at the side of multiple-lane state roadways.

New York is the 48th state to adopt such a measure, intended to reduce the number of incidents involving drivers striking police and other first responders stopped on the state's highways.

Violators could be subject to a $275 ticket and two points on their driving record.

Judging from a quick survey of motorists at Little Neck Plaza, reminders posted on electronic signage along the area's state-run parkway system were having the desired effect of getting word of the new regulation out to the driving public.

"I already move over for police cars on the road, so I think it's about time they got around to enforcing it," said Brian Corso of Glen Oaks.

However, there was at least one point of confusion about enforcement of the law along busy state thoroughfares such as the Grand Central Parkway.

"What if it's bumper-to-bumper traffic? Will we still be expected to move?" said Great Neck resident Jeannie Turner.

Named for a county sheriff's deputy and a state trooper killed by a passing motorist while assisting another driver on the side of a state highway, the Ambrose-Searles Move Over Law aims to provide a much-needed buffer for officers patrolling New York's highways and byways.

Across the U.S., 16 police officers were stuck and killed in 2010 by motorists while outside their vehicles — up from 10 such fatalities the year before, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.