Trooper’s death serves as reminder to move over

The recent death of Colorado State Trooper Will Moden serves as a reminder to drivers across Colorado to move over if someone is on the side of the road.

Colorado law requires drivers to move to the far lane if an emergency vehicle is stopped on the shoulder. And while not everyone thinks about it, officers do.

Lieutenant James Sokilik with the Colorado Springs Police Department says, “it’s always on the mind of officers where they’re pulling their traffic stop.”

Southern Colorado faced its own deadly year on the roads in 2018 with 43 auto fatalities in 2018, and now law enforcement is reminding drivers this simple law could save lives.

While no Troopers died in our area, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jaqueline Kirby says it shouldn’t take a tragedy to get people to move over.

“They are taking other people’s and their own lives. They’re putting them at risk by not abiding by the move-over law,” she explains.

Both Colorado Springs police and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office are taking measures to prevent the number of tragedies.

“We have started targeted traffic enforcement in the eight districts we control,” says Kirby.

The extra enforcement goes through July 1 and from there the sheriff’s office will take the data they’ve collected and decide if permanent enforcement is necessary.

The driver who hit Trooper Modan has not been identified. The Colorado State Patrol is still investigating the accident and will turn over their results to the District Attorney’s Office when it is complete. It’s at that time charges may be filed.