Iowa driving lesson · Right-of-Way, School Buses & Parking
Move Over law and Steer It-Clear It
A 3-minute lesson from the Iowa course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Stopped vehicles with flashing lights mean people are working or stranded feet from traffic. Iowa's Move Over or Slow Down Law gives them room. And after a minor crash, Steer It-Clear It says to get your own vehicle out of the traffic lanes.
Move over when approaching any of these stopped with flashing lights on:
Emergency vehicles
Tow and recovery vehicles
Maintenance and construction vehicles
Solid waste or recycling collection vehicles
Any motor vehicle, including a passenger car, that is continually displaying hazard lights
Steer It-Clear It: after a crash with no injuries, Iowa law requires you to move your vehicle out of the driving lanes if it is operable and can be safely moved.
Steer It-Clear It: move crashed vehicles to the shoulder
Put it into practice
A car sits on the interstate shoulder with its hazards blinking. It isn't an emergency vehicle, but Move Over still applies: signal and change lanes. If traffic beside you blocks the lane change, slow down and be ready to stop.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
A tow truck is stopped on the shoulder with flashing lights. What does Iowa's Move Over law require if a lane change is safe?
Flash your headlights and keep your lane
Come to a complete stop in your lane
Change lanes away from it
Pass closely without changing lanes
Answer: Change lanes away from it
The Move Over law requires changing lanes when approaching a stopped vehicle like a tow truck with flashing lights, if it's safe to do so.
