State troopers in Illinois are redoubling efforts to teach drivers to move over for everyone's safety. So far this year, 17 state police cars have been hit and 3 troopers killed.
East Moline trooper Jason Wilson says drivers could have avoided those collisions if they followed the law and changed lanes. Usually, when he pulls someone over for failing to move over, the driver claims they didn't know it was a law at all.
"It's slowing down and moving over for us. This law's been on the books for 17 years," said Wilson. "So, we tried to do just education, we tried to just give warnings. Unfortunately, we had several officers that paid with their lives. Now we have to go to strict enforcement."
The Illinois State Police have started to crack down on violators.
"All of these people are out there with nothing but air protecting them, and there are just vehicles flying by at 60, 80, 100 miles an hour. We really need to start thinking about the fact that their human beings, that have families, that want to go home to their families too." said Wilson.
This week, troopers took reporters on "ride alongs" with a focus on enforcing the move-over law. Wilson says drivers who got tickets couldn't believe it was happening. The citation is serious and requires a court appearance.