By Michael Hill
Correspondent
New Jersey State Police want the driver of the silver or white Jeep that sideswiped their car where troopers were conducting a traffic stop on Saturday night, Oct. 11 on I-95 in Upper Freehold Township.
“Thank god that officer was not at the driver side door. That officer would not be alive today,” said Assemblyman David Rible.
In another scene, a Wall Township police officer helps a stranded driver on the Garden State Parkway.
Donna Setaro takes notice.
When asked if people were moving over when they saw the flashing lights, Setaro, the mother of a fallen trooper, said, “Yes, very much so. They all moved over to the other lane. There was one car that was not able to do that and they did slow down.” When asked if that was encouraging, she said, “Very encouraging.”
Very encouraging for a mother who lost her state trooper son — Marc Castellano — in 2010. A car hit and killed Castellano as he conducted a search along Route 195 in Howell Township.
Setaro now spends countless hours educating young drivers about New Jersey’s “Move Over Law” — slow down and move over to the other lane when police, fire and emergency and construction crews are at work.
“To date I’ve made 347 presentations to over 47,000 people. My goal is 100,000 people and I won’t stop til that’s done. And then I will set another set of goals just as my son would do,” she said.
New Jersey’s “Move Over Law” is five years old but for some drivers it’s as if it’s a new law. Or, even worse, a law that doesn’t exist at all.
“It’s kind of common sense,” said Sgt. Eric Nelson of the Woodbridge Police Department.
Nelson said when Woodbridge police set up a decoy with a fire truck — lights flashing — on the shoulder of the road earlier this year, not one driver slowed or moved over to the other lane.
“They said they didn’t see it. Shocking how people are distracted and oblivious to their surroundings,” Nelson said.
Rible introduced a bill to extend the Move Over Law to all disabled vehicles on the road as well, with the same $100 to $500 in fines.
“Just recently, State Police gave a report on citations between 2010 and 2014 and there have been close to 3,000 citations. Citations are great but awareness is more important,” Rible said.
“Frankly, anybody who needs to stop safely on a road should be able to know that the average driver is considering their safety,” said Utility and Transportation Contractors Association Managing Director Anthony Attanasio.
The law applies to construction zones. And while the zones have many signs, apparently they don’t have signs advising drivers of the Move Over Law.
“Again, we need to do better on our awareness,” said Rible.
“There are so many simple things that people can do that doesn’t cost them anything, doesn’t take any time out of their life. Switch over lanes or slow for a split second and make it safer for everybody. That’s what I hope we get out of this today,” Nelson said.
Exercising common sense and safety on New Jersey’s roads.