DEC Needs YOUR Help to Keep Employees Safe on Delaware Roadways!

At Delaware Electric Cooperative, maintaining the safety of our employees is always our top priority. Our crews work long, challenging hours to ensure that those we serve receive the quality electric service they rely on. In turn, DEC is asking you — our members — to help ensure that those putting in the hours to keep your lights on get to return home to their families at the end of the day. How? By slowing down and moving over when you encounter a DEC vehicle on Delaware roadways.
 

One of the most hazardous parts of a Co-op employee's job is working on lines along the shoulder of the road. Even when the proper safety precautions are taken — strobe lights turned on, safety cones placed around the work area perimeter and the proper PPE in use — drivers can often be distracted or reckless, and their unpredictability makes the job of our employees all the more dangerous. To combat the added risk this type of driving represents, the "Move Over Law" requires drivers to slow down and move over when approaching first responders, as well as utility vehicles, on Delaware roads. In September, Governor John Carney signed House Bill 329 into law, updating the rules of the current "Move Over Law" and increasing the penalties for those who fail to adhere to it. An important update to the law states that drivers who cannot move over are required to slow down no less than 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit on roads where the speed limit is 50 mph or greater. 
 

In an effort to increase employee safety from a company standpoint, DEC is currently in the process of adding high-visibility reflective decals and improved warning lights to DEC vehicles. These and other proactive measures are intended to better alert drivers to a DEC vehicle's presence in the field, and ultimately protect the wellbeing of our team.
 

Safety is a team effort, and with our members' help, DEC intends to continue providing you with affordable, reliable power in the most efficient, and more importantly —  safest manner possible.