Steer clear!
How many times have you passed a state trooper or other police officer dealing with a trucker or motorist stopped on the side of the road-- and we are talking flashing lights, the whole works here-- and you have not bothered to move one lane over, even if that lane was wide open? Well, shame on any of us who has not given that officer as much of a safety cushion as humanly possible.
For the sake of these officers doing their duty not to mention the persons they are ticketing or helping, as the case may be, please do so. And if you run a fleet, please instruct your drivers to do the same. In many states, it's the law and it ought to be so in every state if you ask me.
Whenever possible, give them a wide enough berth to safely do their job...
Just consider this Good Samaritan story, which actually has a happy ending:
While a Pennsylvania state trooper was dealing with a motorist he pulled over for speeding, he was struck by the mirror of an SUV going by. That driver kept going and is now wanted for hit-and-run and I imagine that thwacking of a police officer is not going to sit well with any judge down the road.
Anyway, it turns out the ticketed motorist was an EMT and she got out of her car-- putting herself potentially in the path of another lousy driver-- and rendered assistance to the stricken trooper who wound up with a broken arm and bruised spine.
But he could have been much more severely injured if not killed. All because someone did not have the brain power to either move the hell over or at least proceed by with the utmost caution.
