also are required to wear high-visibility safety apparel meeting the aforementioned ANSI/ISEA standards, while firefighters and other emergency responders engaged in emergency operations that directly expose them to flame, fire, heat, or hazardous materials may opt to wear approved retroreflective turnout gear.20
|The officer on the left is not wearing high-visibility safety apparel. The one on the right is.|
3. Size up the scene on approach. “Responders arriving at a traffic incident should estimate the magnitude of the traffic incident, the expected time duration of the traffic incident, and the expected vehicle queue length, and then should set up the appropriate temporary traffic controls for these estimates.”21 Accordingly, a responding officer who recognizes a primary incident as other than minor should notify appropriate superiors who promptly can initiate actions to mitigate its negative impact. For example, additional officers could begin—upstream from the incident—deploying reflectors, road flares, traffic cones, or other channeling devices to taper approaching vehicles away from the incident and into available travel lanes; and motorists could be warned early on of impending delays via media traffic reports, changeable message signs, or other means, so they are able to avoid the affected area. In the event of a major incident, more officers, along with transportation department workers, could begin establishing detours and diverting traffic onto them. Such actions reduce drivers’ frustration, relieve congestion, prevent secondary crashes, and demonstrate that the disciplines involved are working together to alleviate the major incident’s impact.
4. Practice safe parking. Recognizing that the random parking of emergency vehicles at an incident can needlessly divert drivers’ attention from driving, endanger those working the scene, and contribute to secondary crashes, the term “safe-positioned”22 was introduced in the current edition of the
MUTCD to create dialogue between public safety agencies about the 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,