Move Over For Emergency Vehicles or Face Up to $2000 Fine

As of 2012 every province in Canada has “Move Over” legislation in effect. The laws aim at protecting law enforcement, firefighters, ambulances, utility vehicles and in some cases tow truck drivers by requiring motorists to slow down, pull over or change lanes when encountering emergency vehicles.

According to the MTO website the rules vary depending on the type of road.

• Multi Lane Highway
  Slow down, signal and move to the right.
  If possible stop without being in the hard shoulder.
• Two Lane Road
  Slow down, signal and move to the right.
  Move as close as possible to the right edge of the road without being in the hard shoulder.
• One Way Street
  Slow down, signal and pull over to the left as far as possible.
• Intersection
  Signal, and clear the intersection to the left or right.
• Stopped Emergency Vehicle
  Both directions of traffic must slow down and yield to stopped emergency vehicles.
  • Single Lane: slow down and proceed with caution.
  • Two Lanes: You must move over and leave one lane of space between you and the emergency vehicle.

Fines for not moving over for emergency vehicles:

• Minimum fine $400

• Maximum fine $2000

• 3 Demerit Points

• Jail time up to 6 months

Suspended drivers license for up to 2 years

Read The Move Over law in its entirety outlined in Section 159 (2,3) of the Highway Traffic Act