Slow Down, Move Over: How to approach roadside emergency vehicles across Canada

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If you’ve driven on just about any public roadway in Canada, you’ve seen it: emergency responders and service vehicle operators taking a risk every time they exit their vehicles to handle a call. In response to a number of collisions and close-calls (frankly, one is too many), so-called Move Over laws have been enacted to help protect the lives of those performing important duties on the sides of our roads.

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Our own Lorraine Sommerfeld recently wrote an excellent take on the subject, reminding us all we need to respect these laws just like any other piece of driving legislation. In some provinces, penalties for flouting the laws enacted to protect workers whose jobs place them in a vulnerable roadside situations may include thousands of dollars in fines, possible jail time, and the chance suspension of licensing privileges up to 2 years.

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Please keep in mind these laws are in place at the time of this writing and information was drawn from the respective provincial ‘gubbmint websites or traffic codes. This article is a guide and not meant to replace any legal advice you may be seeking. For our list we’ll start in the East and move our way across the nation, then go clockwise north to the territories.

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Besides, gearheads like us know better, right? If you see an emergency vehicle on the roadside, slow down and move over.

Newfoundland & Labrador

Upon approaching a stopped emergency or designated vehicle which has its emergency equipment activated, drivers traveling in the same direction must reduce their speed by at least 30 km/h less than the posted speed limit and where necessary, come to a stop. Change lanes if there is another lane available for traveling in the same direction or place as much distance as possible between you and the same-lane responder as is safely possible. In the same vein, a driver is to pass by the emergency vehicle only when it is safe to do so.

Nova Scotia

If you see an emergency vehicle pulled over with its lights flashing, slow down to 60 km/h or obey the speed limit if it’s lower than 60 km/h . If you are driving on a roadway with 2 or more lanes in your direction (read: a divided highway), you must also move into another lane farther away from the stopped vehicle if you can do so safely. The gendarmes note that drivers do not need to slow down or move over if the vehicle is on the other side of the median on a divided highway.

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Prince Edward Island

According to recent changes in the Highway Traffic Act, if you see a tow truck at work on the side of the road on P.E.I., drivers must slow down to half the speed limit and move over a lane if it’s safe to do so. The law had already stipulated this action must be taken when encountering police vehicles, ambulances, and fire trucks stopped by the roadside with their emergency lights flashing.

New Brunswick

Like other provinces on our list, those plying the roads of New Brunswick must move over when emergency responders and service vehicles — such as tow trucks, highway maintenance vehicles, plus private and public utility vehicles — have their flashing lights engaged. Drivers must slow to a maximum of half the posted speed limit ; for example, the many sections of the Trans Canada Highway have a limit of 110 km/h, meaning motorists need to reduce their velocity to 55 km/h in these situations.

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Quebec

So far, each of the jurisdictions covered have given us a hard-and-fast number with which to work. In Quebec, however, drivers are instructed to slow down to a reasonable, safe speed and change lanes away from the vehicle (if you can do so safely). The law goes on to say that when an emergency vehicle, a tow truck, or a surveillance vehicle is stopped by the side of the road and its yellow arrow light signal, rotating lights, or flashing lights are activated, the Move-Over Law applies. This goes for highways, country roads, and city streets.

Ontario

In 2015, after many years of advocating on this issue, CAA and other safety groups were successful in getting the government to include tow trucks in Slow Down, Move Over legislation. The law previously only applied to traditional emergency vehicles and had been on the books since 2003. Specifically, the legislations says when approaching an emergency vehicle with flashing red lights or red and blue lights, or a tow truck with flashing amber lights stopped on the side of the road, you’re required by law to slow down and proceed with caution . If the road has two or more lanes, and it’s safe to do so, drivers should change lanes providing space for stopped service vehicles.

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Manitoba

Heading our way across the prairies, we find a specific set of rules in Manitoba. Drivers must slow to 40 km/h if the speed limit in the location of the emergency vehicle or designated vehicle is more than 40 km/h but not more than 79 km/h, and 60 km/h if the speed is 80 km/h or higher . In addition to complying with speed rules, the driver of the approaching same-direction vehicle must move it into a traffic lane farther from the emergency vehicle if there are two or more traffic lanes and the movement can be made safely.

Saskatchewan

In an interview to local media about this issue, Brad Stratychuk, safety advocate and president of the Roadside Responders Association, said “We’re constantly reminded of the dangers; in 2017, a tow operator was killed on duty during a blizzard while providing roadside assistance in the Esterhazy area.” In that province, it’s the law to slow to 60 km/h for all first responders working on Saskatchewan highways. Their marketing material is blunt, stating simply “Know the risks. Slow down, move over.”

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Alberta

The law requires drivers in the adjacent lane to slow to 60 km/h (or less if the posted limit is lower) when passing emergency vehicles and tow trucks with their lights flashing. Drivers should also move over a lane, when possible. It should be noted that drivers in Alberta are not technically required to slow down if they can safely move their vehicle over into another lane of traffic and away from the emergency vehicle. But, like brushing your teeth and using manners, you absolutely should and people may take a dim view if you don’t.

British Columbia

On the country’s Left Coast, motorists must slow their speed to 70km/h when in a zone with a limit of 80km/h or more. If they are traversing a roadway with a limit below that numeral, it is required they whoa up to 40km/h. The law goes on to say if travelling on a multi-lane road, drivers must move into another lane to pass when passing stopped vehicles with a flashing light, where safe to do so. This provides roadside workers and emergency personnel with greater protection from accident and injury.

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Yukon

While we couldn’t find specific mention of a so-called Move Over law in the current iteration of Yukon’s Motor Vehicles Act , we will note the entire province actually has a general speed limit of 50 km/h. Different jurisdictions are free to set limits higher or lower than that number, of course, but 50 is the default speed limit in The Land of the Midnight Sun.

Northwest Territories

According to documentation provided by the territory, a driver shall reduce his or her speed to a speed that is safe and that does not exceed one-half of the prescribed limit within 120 m of a vehicle that is stopped on or near a highway. Specifically, they are referring to either an emergency vehicle with its lights flashing or an enforcement vehicle with similar illumination.

Nunavut

Like the Yukon, hard-and-fast rules about moving over are hard to find for this area of the country. However, a consultation report from 2016 noted the need to protect the safety of vulnerable road users. This is compounded by Nunavut’s harsh weather conditions which further contribute to a public safety hazard, especially when pedestrians are wearing full winter gear where vision and hearing may be diminished.