Law extends lane changes, speed reductions
for trash trucks and other stopped utility vehicles

Slow down when you drive around a stopped trash truck or other utility vehicle. The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) reminds people that being extra careful around workers is not just a good idea; as of Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, it’s the law in Maryland.

The “Slow Down to Get Around” law protects trash and recycling collectors by requiring drivers to change lanes as they approach stopped utility vehicles, or to slow to a “reasonable and prudent speed” when they drive past. This law previously applied to tow trucks as well as law enforcement and emergency response vehicles. It is now expanded to include transportation, service, and utility vehicles including trash and recycling trucks.

Failure to follow the new law may result in a fine of $110 and one point against the driver’s license. If the violation contributes to a crash the fine is $150 and three points against the driver’s license.

Many City of Baltimore employees spend all day and sometimes much of the after-dark hours driving on our streets, or parked to do work. Employees of DPW’s Bureau of Solid Waste spend their days getting on and off trucks to perform the essential service of curbside trash and recycling collection. And Bureau of Water and Wastewater employees work around the clock to investigate and repair water and sewer infrastructure.

“Our employees do difficult, potentially dangerous jobs, often in hazardous conditions,” said Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., director of DPW. “We don’t want our residents and visitors making these jobs more difficult by speeding by in their vehicles at close proximity to our workers. It is important that drivers Slow Down to Get Around.”

The Slow Down to Get Around initiative is being promoted nationwide by the Solid Waste Association of North America and the National Waste & Recycling Association. Numerous states in addition to Maryland have made this part of their laws.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, trash and recycling collection is the fifth most dangerous job, due in part to traffic accidents. At least two sanitation workers were killed on the job in Maryland in 2017 due to traffic accidents.

Please do your part to help protect these civil servants by obeying precautionary signs and Slow Down to Get Around.