CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Her sisters remember Angela Hurley’s vibrance. Photos of the talented hairstylist, who worked with celebrities Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie, show cherished memories for Latane Flanagan and Alexis Wells, who said their sister had a way of making others feel beautiful.
“I have a voicemail I still listen to sometimes just to hear her voice,” Wells said. “She just made us feel loved and special.”
“There were no limits on her. Everything was out of the box, why can’t we do this; why can’t we do that?” Flanagan said. “She made you feel welcome and beautiful and a safe place to share hard things.”
The sisters’ hardest memory of Hurley came last July.
The 49-year-old mother was sitting inside her vehicle, which was disabled on the right shoulder of I-95 near Ashland, waiting for help.
A 70-year-old man driving nearly 90 miles per hour tried to pass another vehicle on the same shoulder and collided with Hurley’s car. Officials said she died on the scene.
“It was a nightmare to put it simply. It was hard to fathom that something like this could happen in an instant,” Flanagan said. “It’s a grief unlike any other to lose somebody at the hands of somebody else.”
“It’s awful when you lose somebody, but when it’s such a preventable thing when you see a disabled car or first responders or tow trucks, it is so easy if you can’t pull over, you can slow down,” Wells said.
That is the reason Hurley’s family is speaking out publicly for one of the first times since the wreck. Virginia lawmakers voted to expand the “Move Over” law to include any vehicle pulled over on a Virginia highway that has emergency signals visible.
The “Move Over” law requires drivers passing stationary emergency vehicles or tow trucks to move over into the next lane or slow down if a lane change isn’t safe. Violators can face fines or charges.
The expansion, which was signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R - Virginia) and goes into effect July 1, now includes any stopped vehicle on a Virginia highway with flashing lights, flares, or other emergency signs. A violation can result in a traffic citation or other charges if a wreck occurs.
“Angela was not the only person who died on the roads,” Wells said. “People should be guaranteed to come home to their loved ones.”
“At any point in time, your loved one could be in that position. Whether they’re young or old, I see people all the time on the side of the road,” Flanagan said.
AAA Mid Atlantic advocated for the expansion of the Move Over law. Between 2016 and 2020, 28 people were killed in crashes in Virginia while outside of a disabled vehicle, according to AAA Mid Atlantic.
Raymond Elkins, who has worked for AAA for nearly three decades responding to disabled vehicles, said flashing lights can only go so far.
“Bells and whistles don’t mean anything when it comes to certain aspects of what we do,” he said. “I was up on the Woodrow Wilson bridge in Northern Virginia and a van came three lanes over tried to hit me. I had to jump up on the bed of my truck.”
Elkins helped advocate for the expanded Move Over law at the State Capitol this year.
“People pass you going 70-80 miles per hour on the highway looking straight down at their phones, not even looking at the road,” he said. “You’re going 70, 80, 100 miles per hour when you’re not supposed to, you’re going to destroy whatever you hit.”
Thousands of people are hurt and hundreds killed each year in crashes involving stopped vehicles, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. At the same time, AAA Mid Atlantic polling shows a sizable portion of drivers they survey are unaware of Virginia’s “Move Over” law.
“By extending the new law, it’s great if we get the word out enough that people know they have to get over or slow down,” Elkins said.
People stopped on the side of the highway are in a vulnerable spot, and Hurley’s sisters said helping them out is a simple proposition.
“People on the road, there’s a rush, rush, rush to get places. Sometimes you slow down and just remember everybody has a right to be where they are,” Flanagan said.
“We never ever thought we would lose our sister in such a preventable and tragic, awful way. I think that she would want us to be positive and do the best we could by spreading awareness and hopefully saving others,” Wells said.
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