August 26, 2008 NASCAR driver helps enforce "Move Over Law" in NH Play video

(Lauren Collins, NECN: Concord, NH) - Between two and three hundred emergency responders are struck and killed on US roadways each year. There’s a bill in New Hampshire - designed to protect law enforcement and today it got some help from a NASCAR driver.

Clint Bowyer made a pit stop in the Granite State Monday to promote the move over law.

Pulled over on 393 in concord New Hampshire.

But this woman's stopped by NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer.

“We're here to give you four tickets to the Sylvania 300 and watch me race.”

She's been rewarded for a good habit.

The State Police and New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the help of this champion driver -- cited Granite Staters Monday afternoon with seven thousand dollars worth of tickets to September’s Sylvania 300 as a way to promote the race and New Hampshire’s move over law. -- a piece of legislation that seems to formalize common sense.

Alot of people seem to think it would be a common sense thing when you see police, fire, emergency response vehicles ahead to just pull over, but that's not the case.

State police captain Chris Colitti knows all too well -- he's still recovering from being sideswiped by an SUV while performing a traffic stop on i-95 four years ago.

You see those blue, yellow or red lights, you move over one lane and give us a bigger corridor of safety. And if you can't move over, all we ask is that you slow down to a reasonable speed.

The law's been on the books since 2005 but was amended to include dot and tow vehicles the new version took effect august 5th.

But why the PR blitz? State police say many drivers were not aware of the move over law . . . So the speedway seized the chance to promote both the race and one of NASCAR's common themes: “all these drivers will tell you that safety comes first. I mean, that's the first thing we do, for the drivers and for the fans.”