A pair of state troopers pulled over a vehicle for a seemingly routine traffic stop in Cairo on Nov. 18, with the incident soon turning deadly.

A vehicle piloted by Cairo resident Sharon Torres approached the patrol vehicle and the car that troopers had pulled over, with Torres’ car veering off the road and striking the troopers’ vehicle, sending one trooper tumbling down an embankment and killing Torres in the collision. Two state troopers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and were subsequently released.

The incident brought renewed attention to the state’s Move Over Law, which mandates that all drivers reduce their speeds and move over a lane when confronted by a stopped vehicle in the roadway or on the shoulder.

Versions of Move Over laws are in effect in all 50 states, with New York implementing its own law in 2010 that mandated drivers slow down and move over one lane, if it is safe to do so, if an emergency vehicle, such as a police car or ambulance, is stopped on the roadway.

The law was subsequently expanded to include tow trucks and highway worker vehicles before another expansion was passed in 2023 to cover all vehicles that are stopped on the road. The expansion took effect in March 2024.

The law applies to both sides of the road, not limited to vehicles stopped on the right shoulder.

According to the state, from 2016-20, 37 individuals were killed outside of disabled vehicles in New York.

Troop G Traffic Supervisor Sgt. Clayton Howell said under the Move Over law, drivers have the option of slowing down and staying in their lanes if it is not safe to change lanes.

“One of my biggest concerns when I was out there working is that people would see an emergency vehicle, or someone stopped on the shoulder of the road, and think they have to get over,” Howell said. “The better way to look at it is — if you can move over and the lane is available for you to move over, you must move over. It’s not an option if the lane is clear.”

According to statistics from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, state and local police issued 111,211 tickets for Move Over law violations between 2020 and 2025, with the numbers rising in 2024 and 2025 after the law was expanded in 2023 to mandate that drivers must move over for all stopped vehicles in the roadway.

In 2020, 16,406 tickets were issued statewide, with 16,400 tickets written in 2021. In 2022, tickets dropped to 13,989 and rose to 16,104 in 2023. Move Over violations have spiked in the last two years after the law expanded, with 21,770 tickets issued statewide in 2024........

© The Leader Herald