PEORIA (25News Now) – Beginning Thursday, Illinois drivers must move over for more than just emergency vehicles.

Under an expansion of Scott’s Law, the “Move Over” law, motorists who see people outside their vehicles, including emergency responders, roadwork crews, tow trucks, or snowplows, must move over one to two lanes when it is safe to do so.

The updated law now applies not only to stopped emergency vehicles with flashing lights but also to fire and EMS personnel, construction workers, tow trucks, road crews, and pedestrians near the roadway.

“[The law applies] especially if it’s an emergency personnel, so police, fire, ambulance, tow trucks, construction workers, construction sites, if they got their lights flashing, if they’re moving, if they’re stationary, if there’s people out dealing with a crash,” said Illinois State Trooper Caleb Billingsley.

“A lot of times we have family members or individuals that stop at a scene,” said Nathan Hastings, a deputy sheriff in Tazewell County, “especially when they have those phone calls saying they were in a traffic crash, and we have family that rolls up on scene or friends that were called to help them out, or when we roll up on an individual with a flat tire we turn on our lights to help them out.”

Hastings said that sometimes these family members and friends park behind his state trooper vehicle and block his emergency lights, but he hopes that with this law, cars will now see someone stopped and know that if they do not move over, they will be held accountable.

Fines start at $250 for a first offense and rise to $750 for a second offense.

First responders said the change brings added safety. In 2025, 13 crashes violated Scott’s Law, down from 27 in 2024. While officers welcome the decline, they said more protection is needed.

“It’s just one of those things where you feel like you’re kind of divided all the time,” Billingsley said. “You have to focus on what’s going on ahead of you, whether it’s a traffic stop, a crash scene, a medical emergency, a fire, or whatever it is on the road. You’re also mindful of the interstate cars coming by you at 60,70, 80 miles per hour.”

“We want the public to understand that we do take Scott’s Law very seriously, especially in the first responder community,” Hastings said. “While we are out there trying to protect and serve our community, we want to maintain our safety as well. Whether we’re on our crash scene or enforcing traffic law in the state, we want to make sure that not just ourselves but everyone around us is safe as well.”

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