Highway Safety: A Practical Approach

This is the 15th in a series of columns on emergency vehicle safety. The columns are a component of VFIS' "Operation Safe Arrival" initiative, aimed at heightening safety awareness and reducing the frequency and severity of incidents involving emergency response vehicles.

Since the invention of the automobile, emergency responders have been dealing with the problem of highway incidents. Never before has the danger to responders been greater than it is today. Our emergency vehicles are being struck and damaged in record numbers. More importantly, our responders are being struck, injured, and killed at an alarming rate.

So what is the problem? Has the speed and volume of traffic dramatically increased in our response areas? Is it the public's frantic rush to get from point A to point B? Are cell phones, car stereos, eating, or map navigation diverting drivers' attention? Could it be the emergency responders who fail to adequately inform the impatient public of the impending danger created by our mere presence? Is it our disregard for traffic flow, or our nearsighted approach to traffic while working at a highway incident? The answer is yes - the problem is found in all of these elements. So what can we do? What steps need to be taken to protect our responders and the public?