Every year, road traffic crashes kill 1.35 million people worldwide, a number that is equivalent to the population of Maine.1 In 2019, 44 responders—18 law enforcement officers and 26 other responders, including fire, EMS, mobile mechanics, and tow and recovery personnel—died after being struck by a vehicle in the United States.2 On average, another 20,000 first responders are injured in the United States annually while responding to traffic incidents.3 At risk are not only the lives of the drivers and passengers involved but also the welfare of surrounding motorists and bystanders, the safety of police officers and other responders, and even the health of the economy.
“It is imperative that we, as law enforcement leaders, make the safety of our responders the highest priority. Training officers in traffic incident management increases the safety of responders by minimizing their exposure to passing traffic, reducing the probability of secondary crashes, and alleviating overall traffic congestion and delays.”—Steven R. Casstevens, |
Safe, quick clearance is the act of rapidly and safely removing obstructions—including disabled or wrecked vehicles, debris, and spilled cargo—from the roadway to increase the safety of responders by minimizing their exposure to passing traffic, reducing the probability of secondary crashes, and alleviating overall traffic congestion.4 These practices can increase responder and public safety and improve the overall quality of life for their communities.
The IACP, with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and in partnership with an advisory working group of subject matter experts in the field, created two new resources for the field: the Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents Toolkit and the project webpage.
Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents Toolkit
The Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents Toolkit provides law enforcement executives with information that demonstrates the importance of adopting practices that facilitate the safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents in order to increase responder and public safety; reduce traffic congestion and the risk of secondary crashes; and improve the overall quality of life in communities. Included are talking points for law enforcement leadership, government officials, and roll call training; press releases for general and specific incident use; a white paper; and a comprehensive list of resources to assist agencies with implementing practices that ensure safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents.
The toolkit includes the “Un-jamming Traffic: Driving Toward Safer, Quicker Clearance of Traffic Incidents” white paper as the foundational element. This white paper highlights effective strategies that law enforcement agencies can use to improve their response to traffic incidents. Included are considerations for getting buy-in from elected officials and other leaders and considerations for developing and implementing laws and policies to increase safety for responders and the public. The white paper also encourages the promotion of traffic incident management (TIM) training for responders; establishes the importance of after-action reports, which detail incidents and responses and provide opportunities to learn from them; and outlines specific performance measurements to capture that provide critical information for law enforcement agencies.
Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents Project Webpage
The project webpage contains resources developed and collected by the IACP to assist agencies in creating a business case for safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents. Resource categories include general safe, quick clearance resources; TIM training opportunities; examples of practices from police agencies on TIM strategies; examples and policies from Tow & Recovery Incentive programs; and after-action reports.
While it may be unrealistic to prevent all traffic incidents from occurring, law enforcement can reduce their impact. It is imperative that law enforcement makes the safety of responders and the community the highest priority. Training officers in TIM and developing a coordinated response with partner agencies increases safety at the incident scene by minimizing exposure to passing traffic, reducing the probability of secondary crashes, and alleviating overall traffic congestion and delays to improve the quality of life for the community.
Notes:
1 World Health Organization (WHO), Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018 (Geneva: WHO, 2018).
2 ResponderSafety.com, “2019 Emergency Responder Struck-by-Vehicle Fatalities,” 2019.
3 Arizona Department of Transportation, “Arizona Traffic Incident Management Public Resources.”
4 Jodi L. Carson, Traffic Incident Management Quick Clearance Laws: A National Review of Best Practices, report no. FHWA-HOP-09-005 (Federal Highway Administration, 2008).
Please cite as
Cari Jankowski, “Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents Toolkit,” IACP@Work, Police Chief 87, no. 9 (September 2020): 90–91.
