4.5.25 – University Daily Kansan – Chloe Gough | chloe.gough@ku.edu
Drivers will now have to switch lanes when passing a disabled vehicle on the side of the road due to a new law signed by Gov. Laura Kelly.
Violation of Senate Bill 8 would be a $75 fine, but if drivers feel it is unsafe to move lanes, they can remain in their same lane but must slow down and proceed with caution.
SB 8 was passed unanimously by both the Senate and House chambers.
“Thanks to this commonsense bill, all drivers will now be required to move over or slow down if there is a vehicle on the side of the road with flashing lights,” Gov. Kelly said in a Kansas Office of the Governor press release. “This bill will improve safety and will make it easier to educate the driving public.”
A disabled vehicle is classified as a vehicle that has its hazards on, road flares or caution signals. These signals can include traffic cones, reflective triangles or caution signs.
In his written testimony to the House Committee on Transportation Feb. 27, Travis Lowe, a government affairs representative on behalf of AAA Kansas, said that the way the current statute is written, disabled vehicles and its drivers are left in danger.
“Kansas crash statistics show in just five years from 2018-2023 resulted with 10 fatalities, averaging two to three deaths a year,” Lowe said. “In the same time period, 994 empty vehicles were struck while on the side of road. Additionally, 82 crashes occurred with someone in a vehicle while on the side of road during this same time period. This averages nearly 200 crashes a year.”
Alana Richey, a University of Kansas senior studying psychology, said she drives home to Wisconsin about twice a semester and frequently sees cars stranded on the side of the road, mostly when she’s driving through Iowa.
When it comes to collisions, Richey said that she has “seen close calls.”
Chloe Gough is a University of Kansas senior from Tulsa, Oklahoma, majoring in journalism.