'Move Over' laws save lives. So why don't drivers move over?

A 2,700-mile round trip to California recently was a chance to get reacquainted with the rogues of the open road:

• Speeders. I’m talking about those doing 100-plus. These are also the careening multi-lane changers. They must think they're in Formula 1.

• Left-lane campers. In one spot on I-5 in the Central Valley, 20-30 cars were stacked in the passing lane. Just two were in the right lane. When everybody claims to be passing, nobody’s passing.

• Tailgaters, the scourge that will always be with us. If we all expanded our following distances, we wouldn’t have traffic jams. Try telling these guys that.

But these offenses are committed by just a few drivers. We're here to talk about a bad trait that's almost universal:

Nobody’s moving over.

Meaning, few seem to observe the Move Over laws. These laws, which exist in every state, require drivers to move over a lane to provide a safe space away from police, tow providers, firefighters or emergency medical crews working on the roadside. Some states even require you to move over for literally any vehicle on the shoulder.

It makes a lot of sense, considering the 70 mph delta between you and a stationary object — one that human beings might pop out of.

Anecdotally, there's not much moving over happening. This is a pet peeve, and I've watched the roads for it a long time now. Is it ignorance? Apathy?

AAA blames widespread ignorance, as does NHTSA, which estimates that "one-third of Americans are not aware of these laws.” This despite AAA and state agencies running PSA campaigns. But if ignorance explains a third of drivers, that means most of us know about the law but casually ignore it.

Occasionally, good intentions are thwarted by jerks: A month ago, I signaled a lane change and someone sped up to actively block it. The trooper on the shoulder ahead had his flashing lights going, so the purpose of the lane change was pretty damn clear.

Once on this California trip, nobody moved over for a patrol car with one of those sequential amber light bars that literally signals you to move left.

Don't have space to move over? Then the law says to slow down. Maybe some are doing that, but it’s not obvious.

(This just in Sunday night as I wrap up this piece: Two troopers working a three-car accident at night, one in the ditch. Watched a dozen cars pass, not one moved over. A few slowed down, slightly. Undoubtedly to rubberneck.

Grim statistics

Hundreds of law enforcement officers have died in vehicle crashes over the past few decades, according to various sets of federal data for different timeframes. It’s not clear how many of those occurred roadside when struck inside or outside of their cruisers. But a report for 2019 had this specific detail: 16 officers were killed that year by vehicles while on foot. So that gives you an idea. Sixteen officers with 16 families.