The Fond du Lac Police Department’s October Law of the Month is passing stopped emergency vehicles, tow trucks, and highway machinery equipment. The Fond du Lac Police Department wants to educate everyone on how to safely pass stopped emergency vehicles, tow trucks, or highway machinery/construction equipment (snow plows, waste management vehicles, lawn cutting equipment. The Department of Transportation traffic law for passing stopped emergency vehicles, tow trucks, and highway machinery (WI Statute 346.072) states that the operator of a motor vehicle approaching a stopped authorized emergency vehicle giving a visual signal, a tow truck displaying authorized lights, or any road machinery or motor vehicle used for road construction/maintenance displaying approved lights, or is parked on or within 12 feet of a roadway, the operator shall proceed with caution by moving into a traffic lane that is not the lane nearest the stopped/standing vehicle or machinery and continue traveling in that lane until safely clear of the stopped/standing vehicle. This applies only to roadways that have two traffic lanes in the same direction. On a one lane roadway, the operator of the motor vehicle must slow their speed, maintaining a safe speed for any traffic conditions and operate at a reduced speed until completely past the stopped/standing vehicle or machinery. The Fond du Lac Police Department urges all motorists to use caution when approaching any emergency vehicles. Slow down and stay alert!
Officer Rebecca Kollmann #29
