On September 25, 2019, Austin Police Department’s Highway Enforcement Command ran a traffic initiative focusing on Texas Transportation Code 545.157, also known as the “Move-Over” law. The law states that vehicles must either move over a lane or slow down to 20 mph below the posted speed limit if they pass an emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated. The operation today focused on vehicles not moving over for tow trucks. Research from AAA shows that a tow truck operator is killed once every 6 days, making it one of the most dangerous jobs.
 
Results of the initiative are as follows:
 
Passing Authorized Emergency Vehicles – 177 warnings
Hazardous Violations – 8 citations & 15 warnings
Non Hazardous Violations – 9 citations & 11 warnings

APD ran the operation from about 8:45 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and utilized one detective and 12 officers. The location used was the 1000 block of E Anderson Ln EB. We partnered with A&A Wrecker and Recovery and they donated a tow truck and an out-of-service vehicle for the operation. The goal of the operation was to bring awareness to the law and encourage compliance in the future. This was the sixth operation using tow trucks and only warnings were issued to driver’s violating this law. Other citations were issued for other infractions.
 
Including the five previous initiatives with tow trucks, APD officers made 1,253 stops for passing tow trucks in the last four months.