California RV/Towing rules of the road

Recent trip in my Class C RV, (This also applies to Travel Trailer towing). I was about 1 hour south of Bishop California on 395 north. There were 2 Sheriff vehicles working a traffic stop on the shoulder next to the #1 lane. I was driving my 25' Ford E350 Winnebago Minnie Winnie RV in the #1 lane. I slowed down a bit from 55mph speed limit on that stretch. About 3 minutes later one of the 2 Sheriff units come up behind me flashing his lights. In twenty words or less...when driving an RV, dragging a travel trailer or driving a Semi....when there is a traffic stop on the side of the road you are supposed to slow down, and/or change lanes. Cop said I "buzzed" he and his partner pretty good and was pretty pissed. Because I have a charming and wonderful spouse I only got off with a verbal warning.

 

The law is to slow down and move over if possible from emergency actions. Slowing down is subjective, and your “slowing down a bit” verbiage probably isn’t slow.

I will say, standing on the side of a freeway with trucks blowing by you is… frightening. You don’t understand the mass flying by while matching their speed.

They didn’t give you a ticket… chalk it up to an experience, slow down and move over next time.

 

And an hour south of Bishop puts you in Lone Pine. I’ve watched them nab folks for speeding through town. They like to enforce up there. Not much else to do, I presume.

 

In my state you have to move over if possible or, if it's not feasible to move over, you have to drop to 20 under the limit.

 

Once I got all the way to South Lake Tahoe and met up with my Travel Trailer camping buddies, I got to share the story for a couple of drinks.

 

Many states have move over or slow down laws

 

Is this mentioned in the Towing Bible? I don’t remember seeing it.

 

None of the other 5 Travel Trailer owners for this trip seemed to indicate that they knew this already. Part of neighborhood "Trailer Trash" of about 20+ owners. 18 TT's, 1 Class B, 1 Class C, 1 Diesel Pusher.

 

Several of the Southern States around New Mexico have the Move Over or Slow Down Law. After 41 Years of being in the Fire Service, Paid and Volunteer and working accidents on different Highways with traffic flowing by. It's nice to see some States going to these Laws. I will tell you this. The Deputies in My County will leave a Reminder on your Vehicle if you don't Obey The Law if they are on a Traffic Stop of you pass an Accident without Moving Over or Slowing Down. Oh Yeah, You will also get a Ticket from the Same Deputy or State Police for the same reason. They Don't Play.

 

It isn't just towing. The move over laws apply to all vehicles.

 

To my knowledge, that's the law everywhere, with any vehicle, and has been for quite some time. If you can't change lanes 20 mph below speed limit is the guideline. And it doesn't just apply to LE. Any vehicle with flashing lights. I move over for any vehicle on the shoulder regardless of what I'm driving.