20-03-2025
Getting There: New Hampshire's 'Move Over Law' renamed Sherrill's Law to honor late trooper, updated with more safeguards
Mar. 19—The driver of a tractor-trailer didn't move over despite several highly visible warnings, and a state trooper died when the truck crushed his cruiser on Interstate 95 .
The driver pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to 12 months in prison. The 19-year veteran state trooper, Staff Sgt. Jesse E. Sherrill, never saw his wife, Nicolle, or sons, Peyton and Quinn, again.
This month, the New Hampshire Senate passed an update to the state's "Move Over Law," naming it Sherrill's Law and adding more protections so incidents like the trooper's deadly overnight construction detail in Portsmouth on Oct. 28, 2021, never happen again.
"This bill is to honor the memory of Staff Sgt. Jesse Sherrill, who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe," said state Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, the prime sponsor of SB 273.
The bipartisan bill is awaiting passage in the House and would take effect 60 days after being signed into law.
"His loss is memorable, but his memory lives on not only with those who loved him, but in the work we continue to do to protect the safety of our law enforcement officers," Fenton said.
Sherrill, 44, was born in Exeter in 1977 and lived in Barrington.
At the New Hampshire Traffic Fatality Summit a few weeks ago, Lt. Chris Storm said Sherrill's Law is "near and dear to our hearts in the State Police."
"It's in recognition of Jesse Sherrill and his family and all the work they've done and obviously the tragic loss," Storm said.
What is Sherrill's Law?
The bill would update to the current "Move Over Law," which requires motorists to move over into another lane or slow down when passing a stopped first-responder and obey traffic instructions from first responders, construction and utility workers, and signs and signals on the state's highways.
Sherrill's Law would add a few tweaks to include moving over and giving a wider berth without endangering oncoming traffic for any standing vehicle displaying warning signals or lights, including all cars with their hazard lights on, and taking the same precautions when driving near road flares, traffic cones, caution signs, any people in a roadway, and any warning signs, lights or signals at all, not just from public safety personnel.
"The biggest thing isn't, 'Hey, move over for the police or the fire department.' This bill is to move over for everybody," Storm said at the summit. "So, we're trying to increase that so everybody has to move over, no matter who the person is that pulled over on the side of the highway."
Public safety officials said expanding the law to include all vehicles and increasing awareness will help. Especially because most drivers don't understand their responsibilities or abide by the current law.
Hooksett hearing
Get ready, Hooksett, a $20 million project for Route 3/Route 28, also known as Hooksett Road, is coming your way and it's expected to tear up your main drag from 2027 to 2029.
Now's the time to have your say on a project that calls for widening the road to five lanes and adding sidewalks, medians, wider shoulders and as many as two roundabouts, among other fixes, between Alice Avenue and Whitehall Road.
A public hearing is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. on April 3 at Hooksett Town Hall.
For more information about the plan, visit
I-293 work in Manchester
Nighttime traffic on Interstate 293 in Manchester will be down to one lane in each direction and drivers may encounter brief closures between Exit 5 and Exit 7, starting Monday evening and lasting through May 16, transportation officials said.
Crews will be replacing median guardrails from 9 to 5 p.m. during those dates.
The project is budgeted for $1.4 million.
I-93 lane closures
From April 1 to around Memorial Day, all four lanes of open-road E-ZPass tolls on Interstate93 — two each north and south — will be closed at the Hooksett Toll Plaza.
For an estimated two months, drivers won't be able to fly through the tolls without slowing down. Instead, they'll funnel through the six traditional toll booths on each side of the highway.
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