e desirability of parking emergency vehicles in an organized fashion that promotes the responders’ ability to discharge safely the important tasks at hand and that decreases the likelihood of unnecessarily hampering the flow of traffic. For convenience’s sake, arriving responders often park on the side of the highway opposite the incident or approach the incident from the opposite direction. This entails their moving between passing vehicles, the drivers of which may be rubbernecking. Responders should avoid unnecessary conflict with moving vehicles by parking their vehicles on the same side of the highway as the incident and by approaching the incident from the same direction.
A “lane plus one” response is standard and generally provides a sufficient barrier between the traffic flow and emergency responders during extrication, firefighting, and patient care. Ideally, the blocker vehicle is a fire apparatus that is angled toward the traffic lanes and creates a physical barrier between upstream traffic and the incident scene.23 As conditions improve, the impact on travel lanes should be minimized. For example, a fender bender crash could be moved from travel lanes to the shoulder, and unneeded emergency equipment could be released.
5. Harness new technology. Laser measuring devices, photogrammetry, and total stations show considerable promise in crash investigation by reducing the incident clearance time, limiting officers’ exposure on the highway, and improving accuracy that translates into increased investigative quality and more successful prosecutions. As an example, using photogrammetry, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper spent a total of 18 minutes photographing a 193-foot-long by 127-foot-wide nighttime crash scene that blocked an intersection.24
6. Clear the scene and reopen lanes. The principal strategy surrounding every traffic incident is to respond promptly, secure the scene, treat the injured, investigate the circumstances, and clear the incident in a timely fashion. At the foundation of the NUG’s safe, quick incident clearance principle is a three-pronged solution: an authority removal statute, a driver removal or “move it” law, and a “move over/slow down” law.
Authority removal allows specific responders—usually law enforcement officers—to cause the removal from travel lanes of anything that impedes the free flow of traffic and generally holds those responders harmless from liability except when damage is caused by gross negligence.25 The most basic removal technique is simply driving a vehicle off the highway, followed by installing push bumpers on police cruisers or freeway service vehicles and allowing them to push disabled vehicles off the roadway. In more massive situations, an inoperable large truck or spilled cargo may be pushed off traffic lanes for removal after rush hour, so traffic flow can be restored in the meantime.
Driver removal or “move it” legislation “require[s] drivers involved in typically minor incidents to move their vehicles from the travel lanes, exchange information, and report the crash information as required.”26 When these laws are understood and obeyed by motorists, the involved drivers move to positions of greater safety, and the possibility of secondary crashes and congestion decline.
“Move over, slow down” laws “require drivers approaching a scene where emergency responders are present to either change lanes when possible and/or reduce speed.”27 Even though all states except Hawaii and excluding the District of Columbia have enacted “move over” laws,28 their provisions vary greatly among jurisdictions and tend neither to be publicized nor enforced, regrettably limiting the laws’ effectiveness. Since 2005, the IACP has supported uniformity in these statutes to better ensure the safety of law enforcement officers and other highway workers.29
7. Appropriately reduce lighting. An issue closely related to safe positioning is lighting. More lighting is not always better. Emergency-vehicle lighting “provides warning only and provides no effective traffic control,”30 and its current u