Exercise due care and move over for all stopped vehicles on highways in New York (VTL 1144(a))
The rules for when a driver must move over to avoid a vehicle on a controlled-access highway in New York were simplified during the 2023-24 legislative session. The result was also to expand the move-over law to include all vehicles that are stopped on a highway.
As of this writing, here’s the requirements for exercising due care according to VTL 1144(a):
Move over for any vehicle stopped in any lane, or on either shoulder. The law is no longer limited to just emergency vehicles.
If the vehicle is on the shoulder, move out of the lane adjacent to that shoulder.
Slowing down is not enough. If you do not change lanes, even when the vehicle is entirely on the shoulder, you could get a ticket.
Some drivers get ticketed for violating this law because the traffic was too heavy to change lanes, and they ry to “exercise due caution” simply by slowing down. Here’s the language that’s written again and again into this law:
“For the purposes of this subdivision, such due care shall include, but not be limited to, moving from a lane which contains or is immediately adjacent to the shoulder where such motor vehicle is parked, stopped or standing to another lane, provided that such movement otherwise complies with the requirements of this chapter including, but not limited to, the provisions of sections eleven hundred ten and eleven hundred twenty-eight of this title.”
What this means is that the bare minimum expected is to change lanes. Due to the close working relationship police officers and prosecutors usually have, prosecutors are often extremely unsympathetic when it comes to actions that could risk injury to an officer. They may not offer a favorable reduction, and these tickets are frequently ineligible for traffic diversion programs.
At Selby Legal, we will always aggressively defend clients accused of any traffic violation, including failing to exercise due care. Upload your traffic ticket for a free consultation.