New campaign aims to improve safety of roadside workers

An e-petition has been opened to lobby the Government to introduce a law to protect people working on the side of the road, such as vehicle recovery/rescue services and the emergency services.

The petition is part of the Slow Down, Move Over campaign which is aiming to raise awareness of the dangers roadside workers face on a daily basis. The campaign says that numerous people are killed or seriously injured on our hard shoulders each year as the result of collisions involving stationary vehicles.

The e-petition is requesting a change in the law to make it mandatory for road users to slow down and move over to the next lane on a dual carriageway or motorway when they see an emergency services or recovery vehicle on the hard shoulder, with its emergency warning lights illuminated.

The campaign is seeking to create a Parliamentary debate on the subject, for which it requires 100,000 signatures on the e-petition by 3 May 2013.

Click here to sign the petition.