AMES — You see flashing lights up ahead. What do you do? According to the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Iowa State Patrol, the best thing to do is move over if possible, or slow down as you pass the scene.
The professionals who respond to crashes and other incidents on Iowa’s highways are using National Crash Responder Safety Week, Nov. 13-17, to remind everyone to watch for flashing lights ahead to “Protect Those Who Protect You.”
If you are involved in a traffic crash, you’ll likely be relying on various trained professionals to ensure you and everyone else at the scene are as safe as possible. To keep everyone safer on the road, states across the country have enacted Move Over Laws to encourage motorists to either move over or slow down, if moving over is not possible, when they come up on a crash scene. In Iowa, our Move Over Law states that you should move over or slow down whenever you come upon any vehicle with flashing lights. National data shows that nearly 30 percent of people are unaware of these laws.
Coordination is
the key to success
When a crash happens, the priority is to make sure all victims are quickly treated and out of harm’s way because many vehicles do not slow down or move over. But there is also work to do to document and clean up the scene and restore the flow of traffic as quickly as possible to get you on your way. Those who come to your rescue are more successful when all the responders work together in a coordinated way. Crash Responder Safety Week is in place not only to remind you that you should move over or slow down but also to highlight the benefits of coordination training for first responders.
Col. Nathan Fulk, Chief of the Iowa State Patrol said, “It is essential that our troopers know how to coordinate with all parties at the scene so we can treat those who may need help and get traffic flowing again. Our troopers investigate the crash and work with the Iowa DOT, local firefighters, our towing partners, and others to clear the crash scene as quickly as possible to reduce the likelihood of additional crashes. These secondary crashes often occur due to drivers paying more attention to the initial crash scene than to the task of driving.”
“In Iowa, we have collaborative groups that actively pursue traffic incident management training to make incident scenes safer for you and the responders. The concept is to bring all types of responders TOGETHER in one room – similar to a pit crew at a NASCAR race. Everyone knows his or her job and it is done efficiently and in a coordinated manner,” states Scott Marler, Director of the Iowa Department of Transportation.
If you are part of a team of local responders, you are encouraged to take the free National Traffic Incident Management Responder training from the Federal Highway Administration to stay updated on best practices: http://bitly.com/TIMtrain. More than 600,000 responders have been trained to date through in-person, online instructor-led, or online self-paced curriculum.
Remember, when you come upon a crash scene everyone has their role to play. While crash responders use their training to treat victims, document and clean up the scene, and restore the flow of traffic you, the driver, have a responsibility to MOVE OVER or SLOW DOWN, when possible, any time you see a vehicle on the side of the road with flashing lights.