WASHINGTON 鈥� When Maryland drivers spot emergency vehicles, such as police cars or fire trucks along the side of the road, they need to move over one lane or slow down. It鈥檚 the law.
And a Maryland legislator would like to improve safety on the state鈥檚 roads even further, by expanding that law to such service vehicles as State Highway Administration mowers or trash and recycling trucks.
鈥淲e need to do more in the legislature to keep drivers from running into these people that are out there trying to help us,鈥� said Maryland state Sen. Wayne Norman during a Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing Tuesday afternoon. Norman represents Cecil and Hartford counties
During that hearing, some of the workers the bill is designed to protect spoke about their experiences working along state, county and municipal roadways.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e mowing the grass, you鈥檒l see tractor trailers fly by you at anywhere from 50 to 90 miles an hour. It鈥檒l shake your truck,鈥� said Brian Ross, a state highway employee. He also told committee members about a friend who also worked for the State Highway Administration.
鈥淗e got hit by a guy in a car,鈥� Ross said. 鈥淜nocked him about 150 feet. He鈥檚 still not back to work, and this happened three years ago.鈥�
Kenneth Nugent, who works at the administration鈥檚 Gaithersburg facility, told a similar story. He and a colleague were working when their vehicle broke down along a Montgomery County road. Traffic had come to a stop.
鈥淢y friend was standing on the shoulder of the road directing traffic,鈥� Nugent said. One driver, he said, apparently couldn鈥檛 wait and drove around the truck.
鈥淭his gentleman came through there at a full rate of speed, hit him and threw him about 75 yards into a field. My friend is currently disabled and unable to work,鈥� he said.
Mayor Craig Moe of Laurel also testified in favor of the bill, explaining that a member of his city鈥檚 public works crew was killed just over a year ago.
鈥淗e never had a chance鈥� Moe said, explaining that the SUV that hit 30-year-old Marcus Colbert pinned him to the trash truck that Colbert was working on. His father, Ralph Brent 鈥� who worked for the Laurel Department of Public Works for more than 20 years 鈥� said he used to drive his son to work every day.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have that anymore,鈥� Brent said. He said that if he could leave lawmakers with one thought it would be to ask everyone to slow down.
鈥淭ake a minute,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we pass this bill, maybe we get to save a life.鈥�
