Ask a Trooper: Always pull to shoulder, stop for emergency vehicles

Q: I was recently driving in Minneapolis and an emergency vehicle came up behind me on the freeway in the far left lane. I was in the far right lane of a four-lane stretch of freeway and pulled over, but none of the other vehicles moved over any more than one lane to clear only the lane the vehicle already was traveling in. Is this right? I thought I was going to be run over by other cars and trucks. Perhaps I should not have pulled onto the shoulder.

A: That happens out-state as well, way too often. The law does require the vehicles to pull over and stop. Unfortunately, in a case like you experienced where just about everyone else did the wrong thing, it almost caused you to be in a crash. While going on a call, we don’t have time to stop everyone that failed to yield to us and so that’s what happens. I am glad you were not injured in your incident.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers is a regional public information officer for the Minnesota State Patrol.

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