It's been the law in Maryland to give police and emergency vehicles room when stopped on the highway for several years, but highway officials want to remind people why it's important.
The State Highway Administration put together a crash demonstration to show how emergency vehicles have to operate on the side of the road.
"Just this year we've had 15 troopers struck in the Washington Metro Troop region. out of that 15, 3 of them have not returned to work. The number is alarming, it's almost double what we've had in years past," Capt. Dan Pickett of Maryland State Police said.
Emergency officials want to remind drivers about the law so accidents like the one in their demonstration don't happen.
The law states that if you see an emergency vehicle ahead of you you must move over and leave a lane clear in between you and the emergency vehicle. If you cannot move over you must slow down to a safe speed.
The original law went into effect in 2010, in 2014 the law was expanded to not only include police cars but, tow trucks, fire trucks and medical and rescue trucks as well.
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