Lakeland Police Schedule Traffic Safety Operation

Lakeland Police have scheduled a traffic safety "Move Over" operation for Friday, February 29th, beginning at 7:30 a.m and ending at 3:00 p.m.  The areas of focus will be:

1.  The Polk County Parkway.

2.  Harden Blvd between Beacon Road and Lakesde Village Shopping Center.

3.  South Road 98 (Bartow Highway) between Edgewood Drive and South Crystal Lake Drive.

the Move Over Initiative is designed to educate the public to the law requiring motorists to "move over" or "slow down" for emergency vehicles (FS316.126(1)(b).  This law requires drivers to either move over leaving an empty lane between the emergency vehicle and their vehicle, or to slow down to a speed that is 20 MPH slower than the speed limit in the area they are travelling through.

Violators of this law will be stopped and given literature and anything from a verbal warning to a uniform traffic citation.  Every year emergency personnel are killed or injured by passing motorists when working on streets and highways.

Emergency vehicles include police, fire, ambulance, and wreckers.

Sergeant Terri Smith