RCMP campaign targets drivers who don't slow, move over for first responders, tow trucks stopped on highways

Winnipeg Free Press

13-05-2025

The RCMP is launching a summer enforcement campaign to catch drivers who do not reduce their speed if they see a police car or tow truck responding to an incident ahead.
'That's our office space, so to speak — that's our workplace,' Sgt. Mark Hume told a news conference in a parking lot outside the Manitoba legislature Tuesday.
Hume was joined by representatives from CAA Manitoba and the provincial government on the newly proclaimed 'Slow Down Move Over Day.'
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Sgt. Mark Hume said RCMP will be sending out multiple units to do highway patrols in the coming months to issue tickets and improve workplace safety.
The event sought to raise awareness about related laws that aim to protect people who patrol and work on highways.
Motorists are required to reduce their speed and switch lanes, when the latter is safe to do, to give first responders, including police, paramedics and firefighters, and tow operators as much space as possible.
When the posted speed limit is 80 km/h or under, road users must slow to 40 km/h. Drivers are required to slow to 60 km/h on highways with higher limits.
The base ticket is a $298 fine. That penalty is greater and may include jail time for motorists who also cause a collision or injury.
These laws are generally under-enforced because there may only be one police car on a scene, Hume said.
'Quite often, the first officer that's doing the initial traffic stop can't just drop what he's doing and run and take off to the vehicle that's gone by him,' he said.
The RCMP spokesman said the police force will be sending out multiple units to do highway patrols in the coming months to issue tickets and improve workplace safety.
Motorists who come across an emergency responder on the shoulder of a two-lane highway are required to stop until they can safely continue via the furthest lane from it.
'Too many drivers take risks, and we want everyone to make it home at the end of the day,' Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor told reporters.
RCMP and CAA Manitoba data suggest these rules, which date back to 2011, are not widely known.
Ewald Friesen, manager of government and community relations at CAA Manitoba, said more public education is key to reduce hazards for tow operators and their colleagues.
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A recent survey of CAA members in Manitoba found 99 per cent of them support the 'Slow Down Move Over' legislation but just over half of respondents could offer a precise definition of what it entails.
Naylor tabled Bill 38, which includes a slew of changes to the Highway Traffic Act, in the winter. It is now at the third reading stage.
The proposed amendments would require motorists to leave at least 30 metres between them and a snowplow they are following.
The minimum trailing distance would increase to 100 metres when the posted speed limit is upwards of 80 km/h.
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