Auto accidents involving first responders, including firefighters and other emergency workers, killed at least 50 such workers in 2022. The Governors Highway Safety Association and other groups are ramping up efforts to educate drivers about the need to take care when they see emergency responders at an auto accident site.
Most states have move – over laws in place to protect emergency workers at car accident sites, and Georgia is no different. In Georgia, the law requires motorists to move over one lane when they see emergency vehicles with flashing lights ahead. If moving over one lane is not possible, then motorists are required to at least slow down. They must also be prepared to stop when they reach the auto accident site. What is not acceptable is for a motorist to travel at his normal speed without slowing down or changing lanes, thereby placing emergency first responders at risk of personal injuries.
Under Georgia law, emergency first responders include firefighters, police officers, EMS workers, Department of Transportation workers and others who might be attending to an emergency on the road. These emergency first responders place their lives and safety at risk when they rush to the scene of an auto accident and offer life -saving help and care to passengers.