How difficult is it to pull over when you see an ambulance approaching your truck, or to slow down when you enter a road work zone?

Evidently, it must be pretty hard.

According to the Virginia State Police, 22 public safety professionals across the nation were struck and killed by a vehicle in 2013 and 2014.

That includes not only police officers but department of transportation employees, towtruck drivers  and emergency medical technicians.

Accident or no accident, distraction or no distraction, these folks, who mow ditches, work accidents, tow us away when we break down and protect us daily, deserve better.

They deserve our attention, and a brake.

June is Move Over Awareness Month in Virginia. The designation is the result of the 2014 Virginia General Assembly Session, and continues the effort to raise drivers’ awareness about this lifesaving law, according to the State Police.

Legislators’ and the State Police’s intentions are great, but we need to drive safer the rest of the year, not just during the 30 days of June.

Virginia’s Move Over law went into effect 13 years ago to protect first responders working on the highway. Rightly so, the law was expanded in 2010 to include highway maintenance vehicles and tow trucks equipped with amber lights.

Sheriff’s deputies, rescue squad volunteers, firefighters and others — our friends and neighbors — who take care of us and our roads, we owe it to them and their families to pay better attention, and to slow down.

Since 2005, 123 law enforcement personnel have been killed as a result of being struck by a vehicle in the United States, say State Police.

Along with shiny badges and guns, these people have families, friends and neighbors.

They have us to depend on as they do their jobs.

All it takes is a few seconds to brake and pull over. If you’ve got nowhere to pull over, just slow down, and stop if you have to.

It can be harder to do this, though, if you’re not paying attention, and you’re, say, texting or sending an email while driving.

When you move over for police or another emergency vehicle, you’re not only helping those responding to the emergency, but the people waiting for them. EMTs and volunteer firefighters can get to their destinations much quicker without us slowing them down. In such a rural area as this, it can take a while to get from the sheriff’s offices, fire departments and rescue squad buildings to homes across Buckingham, Cumberland and Prince Edward.

And you want to stand in their way? We don’t think so.

The next time you approach a road work zone scattered with orange vests, a police officer who’s pulled someone over, a woman hooking up a car to a tow truck or a vehicle accident where firemen are directing traffic, slow down. They’ve got families, just as you and I do.

They serve and protect us both day and night, and the least we can do is give them a brake, and slow down, not just this month, but all year long.