Make Sure You Know How Kentucky’s Slow Down, Move Over Law Is Changing Before It Goes Into Effect

Slow Down, Move Over, a law that helps keep people on roadways safe as they work on roads will now include drivers whose vehicles have become disabled on the road.

The original law, which was passed in 2003, was meant to protect first responders, highway crews, tow truck operators and others working along roads in Kentucky. Now, after Senate Bill 107 was passed by Kentucky’s legislature and signed into law by Governor Andy Beshear (D) in April, the law will expand to include motorists with vehicles that are disabled on the road.

Starting Monday, July 15, vehicle operators who are approaching a disabled vehicle that is displaying emergency flashers will be required to do one of the following:

• Move over a lane, away from the disabled vehicle, if it’s safe to do so.
• Reduce their speed if they’re unable to change lanes or if on a roadway of fewer than four lanes.

“Expanding Kentucky’s ‘Slow Down, Move Over’ law to encompass all vehicles supports Team Kentucky’s mission to provide safe highways for all road users,” said Kentucky Transportation Secretary Jim Gray in a statement. “Every motorist, regardless of their vehicle’s size or purpose, deserves to make it to their destination safely – every trip, every time.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 1,800 people were hit while outside of a disabled vehicle in the United States from 2017-2021.

In Kentucky, police crash data shows that in the Commonwealth alone, 32 people were killed in crashes while either leaving or approaching their vehicles on the road, 16 others were killed in crashes while changing tires or performing other work on their vehicles on the road from June 1, 2019 to June 1, 2024.