November Law of the Month: Emergency responder safety
Emergency responders risk their lives every day working along busy highways. The Wisconsin State Patrol’s November Law of the Month urges safe driving to protect roadside workers.
“When you see lights flashing ahead, no matter the color, please move over or slow down to create a safe workspace for emergency responders,” said Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent Tim Carnahan. “This includes our officers who risk their safety every time they step out alongside the road to talk with a motorist or respond to a crash.”
Over the past five years, 73 emergency responders were struck while working along Wisconsin’s roads.
Wisconsin has laws in place to help keep roadside workers safe. When there are two or more travel lanes in the same direction, the Move Over Law (346.072) requires drivers to move out of the lane closest to stopped law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, tow trucks, utility or highway maintenance vehicles that have their warning lights activated. If a driver is unable to move over or is traveling on a single lane roadway, they must slow down. Violations can result in a citation of $263. If the violation results in a crash or injuries, the penalties can be much more severe.
Wisconsin further enhanced protections for emergency responders in December 2021 when Act 115 was signed into law. The law creates an emergency response area within 500 feet of an authorized emergency vehicle with lights on. Handheld cell phone use is banned and penalties for certain violations double in the emergency areas.
Stay alert near crash scenes
Crash scenes can turn dangerous quickly with the threat of secondary crashes from drivers not paying attention near an incident. In 2024, there were 620 secondary crashes in Wisconsin causing seven deaths and 276 injuries.
Many of those crashes could have been prevented if drivers had slowed down and stayed alert around crash response scenes.
Crash Responder Safety Week
Crash Responder Safety Week occurs November 17-21, 2025. This nationwide effort calls attention to the risks first responders face on duty. Responders train to safely manage and clear roadside incidents, but they rely on drivers to keep them out of harm’s way. Drivers should always carefully scan the road ahead for potential traffic problems or incidents, including stopped emergency responders.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Division of Wisconsin State Patrol will participate in this annual awareness week by sharing educational messages through media partnerships, digital platforms and electronic highway message boards.
Wisconsin State Patrol remembers officers killed on duty
Wisconsin State Patrol officers will always remember two of their own who died in incidents that could have been prevented by a driver moving over. A passing vehicle hit and killed Trooper Deborah McMenamin while she was walking back to her squad car during a traffic stop in 1989. Trooper William Schoenberger died in 1993 after a semi hit his patrol vehicle while he was parked on the shoulder protecting the scene of a car fire.
View the November Law of the Month video and news release online: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/about-wisdot/newsroom/law/lom.aspx
