Cops: Drivers get speeding, move-over tickets

More than two dozen drivers were ticketed Tuesday during a police enforcement campaign on County Road 83 in Coram and Mount Sinai, receiving summonses for a variety of offenses -- including speeding and failure to obey the state's Move Over Law, enacted in 2011.

During the enforcement, conducted by Suffolk County police between 9 and 11 a.m., 28 tickets were issued, including 16 for violations of the Move Over Law and five for speeding.

Two drivers were cited as unlicensed operators, police said.

The Ambrose-Searles Move Over Law was instituted to protect law enforcement officers, emergency workers, tow and service vehicle operators and other maintenance workers stopped along roadways to perform their duties, police said in a statement.

The law requires that drivers "use care" when approaching an emergency vehicle using emergency lighting, with drivers required to reduce speed on all roads and highways. In addition, on parkways and other "controlled-access highways" with multiple lanes, drivers approaching an emergency vehicle must switch lanes -- moving over from the lane immediately adjacent to the stopped emergency vehicle -- unless traffic or road hazards prevent a lane change.

The idea is to create a safety cushion between the stopped emergency responders and any approaching or passing vehicle.