New Law Increases Fines For Drivers That Fail To Slow Down Or Move Over

There’s a new push to educate drivers on a law that takes effect next month. 

Starting November 1, 2023,  fines will increase for drivers who do not slow down or move over for first responders, tow truck operators, or stranded drivers on the side of the road. 

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Preston Cox estimates he is on the shoulder 10 to 30 times daily.

“If speeds go up to 60 and you’re doing the speed limit, and you don’t move over, that actually shakes the car,” Cox said.

Previously, a driver could face a $249 fine. That price will increase to $ 1,000 for the first offense and $ 2,500 for a subsequent offense.

Cox hopes the increased penalty prevents what happened to him in December 2021.

“It was on Broadway Extension at Hefner about 3 a.m,” Cox said. “Six more inches over, and it would have been dead on.” 

He talked about the car that slammed into him at a press conference hosted by AAA.

“Luckily, I was able to walk away from it,” he said at the podium. “A lot of people aren’t.”

He was joined there by lawmakers who helped push for the change. 

Representative Neil Hays was one of them.

“Yeah, it’s going to be expensive,” Hays said. “Sometimes, to make change, it requires us to go into people's pocketbooks.”

State Senator Blake “Cowboy” Stephens spoke about a tow truck operator in Shawnee who was hit.

“I went to his funeral,” he said. “I sat with his family.”

The increase in fines is meant to help those like Trooper Cox or other tow truck operators return to their families.

“That’s it. Just try,” says Cox. “That goes a long way for us.”

The law does not include a mandatory slowing speed. Senator Stephens says there was concern about it leading to secondary crashes or bottlenecking.

However, an interim study on October 26th will examine other states with mandatory speed reductions.

Senator Stephens and Representative Mays say they hope to see one in place in Oklahoma.