A trip on Interstate 35E through Denton County this week means some extra sets of eyes are likely watching.
Authorities are enforcing laws requiring drivers to move over or slow down, when an emergency vehicle is stopped on the roadside.
Texas Department of Public Safety is conducting the enforcement effort, with assistance from other departments. In Denton, city police are making sure people either change lanes or slow their speed by 20 mph when approaching a roadside stop. Too often, police said, they don't.
"It depends on different times of the day," said Ryan Rigdon, a Denton police officer who is taking part in the enforcement. "When it's heavy traffic they're more likely to move over. When it's not, sometimes they just stay in the same lane."
Rigdon knows first-hand how dangerous roadside traffic stops and accident scenes can be. A few years ago, while responding to an accident, his patrol car was sideswiped by a driver. He wasn't injured, but dash camera video shows his detached mirror flying through the air on impact.
"It's crazy how people don't see you," he said. "Especially at night. You can see the lights. I don't know why people don't just move over."
The DPS patrol enforces Move Over/Slow Down laws from Cook County south to the Dallas County line, part of a larger, ongoing statewide campaign. The effort follows two recent incidents in Rowlett. In both, police cars were hit by drunk drivers during traffic stops.
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Incidents, Rigdon said, which are sobering reminders of the dangers of the job. Dangers he believes are easily avoidable.
"If people just pay attention and do what they're supposed to do," he said. "It's safer for all of us."
