Illinois state law requires motorists to move over or slow down when they see an emergency vehicle on a roadside with its lights activated. The law, enacted many years ago, is called “Scott’s Law” after Scott Gillen, a Chicago firefighter who was killed when he was struck by a drunk driver while he was responding to an accident on the side of an expressway.
Unfortunately, too many drivers still do not follow this very simple instruction, and last weekend another Illinois State Trooper was injured by a careless driver. At 2:20 a.m. on Saturday the trooper’s car was parked with its emergency lights flashing when a driver crashed into it from behind. The driver has been cited for violating Scott’s Law. The trooper was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, as were the driver and passenger from the vehicle which stuck the trooper.
Saturday’s crash was the 17th such accident involving a State Police car in Illinois this year, and the eighth time a trooper was injured. Earlier this summer the Governor signed legislation I sponsored to better educate drivers on Scott’s Law. Please pay attention and be mindful of first responders on the roadsides.