N.C. Highway Incident Safety DVD

TIME Taskforce Oct. 27 th , 2009 Brian Purvis, PE NCDOT State IM Engineer

NCDOT

 Our Mission Connecting people and places in NC safely and efficiently, with accountability and environmental sensitivity  Our Goals  Make roads safer  Move people and goods efficiently  Make roads last longer

FIRE DEPARTMENT

 Mission Minimize the risk of fire and other hazards to the citizens they serve  Goals  Respond and mitigate fires, medical emergencies, hazmat incidents, aircraft emergencies, high angle and confined space rescues and other emergencies as they arise

FOCUS AREA Strategic Highway Corridors

Provides mobility for commuters, businesses, tourists, hospitals, military bases, airports, schools, and hurricane evacuees.

 Strategic Highway Corridors:  +/- 5400 miles  7.0 % of system, moves 45 % of traffic

North Carolina’s Strategic Highway Corridors (SHC’s)

Exhibit ES.4 The Sources of Congestion

National Summary

Sources of Congestion

Special Events (5%) Poor Signal Timing (5%) Bad Weather (15%) Bottlenecks (40%) Work Zones (10%)

Safety Impacts of Incidents



Secondary Crashes

 National and NC data shows that secondary crashes account for  the deaths on freeways are due to secondary crashes.

REMAINING FREEWAY CAPACITY

Incident Type Accident Breakdown Debris Location Rt. Shdr Median 1-Lane Rt. Shdr Median 1-Lane No. of Freeway Lanes / Direction 2 3 4 5

81 83 85 87 81 35 83 49 85 58 87 65 95 95 35 98 98 49 98 98 58 98 98 65

PUBLIC’S VIEW OF NCDOT…

SHOULDER ACCIDENT

-19%

FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVES

-65% 46% LESS Capacity

FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVES

   MUTCD ? NO Standardized? NO Confused? YES

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

• Tuesday, June 19, 2007 –

This was a very close call last Sunday night for Charlotte Firefighters when a motorist slammed into the rear of E22 on I-85. Two suffered minor injuries and were treated and released. One was hit by debris and the other injured his back while climbing a concrete barrier to provide assistance. The driver was the only occupant of the of the car (a Volvo) and was pinned in. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. E22 was providing assistance to another MVA when this accident occurred. They were within a minute or so of clearing the scene.

Minor Incident:

Single Vehicle on Fire on Shoulder

Intermediate Incident:

Two Vehicle Accident with Injuries and Entrapment

So, How Can We All Work Better Together To Minimize the Impacts of Incidents on Travel in NC…?

FEMA GRANT

NFPA 1901 Requirements (Jan 09)  Fifty percent of the rear-facing vertical surface of all vehicles must now be covered with reflective red and yellow stripes in a chevron pattern sloping downward from the center of the vehicle at a 45-degree angle. The stripes must be 6 in wide, instead of the minimum combined width of 4 in specified on the sides and front. Although there is some latitude on the exact shade of yellow to be used, other colors may not be substituted.

FEMA GRANT

NFPA 1901 Requirements (Jan 09)  All apparatus must now carry five 28-in high fluorescent orange traffic cones with double reflective markings, five illumination warning devices such as flares, and one traffic safety vest meeting current ANSI standards for each seating position. Departments may want to increase the number of traffic cones and illumination warning devices based on local conditions.

FEMA GRANT

ECHS~Incident Management Group  $525,000  Produce DVD Training  5 Cones /

Existing

6 Tire minimum Rescue or Fire Truck with 80% training verified.

 Reference Visor Cards  March – Distribute to Community Colleges  April thru May – Ship Cones to FD’s  End of May – Complete Grant Funding

FEMA GRANT

PARKING ORDER STAGED VEHICLES WRECKER SERVICE SHADOW AREA EMS SHADOW AREA INCIDENT SCENE BUFFER SPACE FIRE / RESCUE UNPROTECTED AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAFFIC CONES TRANSITION AREA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION / IMAP Emergency Responder Parking Order and Cone Placement Reference Card BLOCK RIGHT BLOCK LEFT BLOCK SHOULDER RESPONDER GOALS DO NOT PARK ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD OR IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL CREATE AN OPEN LANE(S) POLICY TO GET RESOURCES TO THE INCIDENT FASTER. MINIMIZE CLOSED LANES FIRST ARRIVING FIRE OR RESCUE SHOULD ANGLE VEHICLE (BLOCK) IN THE DIRECTION OF THE MERGE WHEN PERSONNEL ARE NOT AT RISK PROVIDE A 50' TO 100' BUFFER SPACE BETWEEN YOU AND THE INCIDENT SCENE REMOVE LANE CLOSURES, RELOCATE TO SHOULDER OR DEMOBILIZE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNLESS REQUESTED FOR TRAFFIC CONTROL FIRE OR RESCUE DEPLOY A 200' TAPER WITH TRAFFIC CONES TO REDIRECT TRAFFIC. SPACE CONES AT EACH SKIP LINE CONTACT DOT FOR HAZMAT, OVERTURNED TRACTOR TRAILERS, FATALITY INVESTIGATIONS, MULTIPLE VEHICLE ACCIDENTS OR OTHER LONG TERM INCIDENTS

FEMA GRANT

Emergency Responder Highway & Interstate Safety Reference Card FENDER BENDER LAW General Statute § 20-166 states:

If an accident or collision occurs on a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median or adjacent area of a highway, each vehicle shall be moved as soon as possible out of the travel lane and onto the shoulder to minimize interference with traffic if all of the following apply: The accident or collision has not resulted in injury or death to any person.

and

Each vehicle can be normally and safely driven under its own power without additional damage to the vehicle, other traffic or the roadway.

QUICK CLEARANCE LAW General Statute § 20-161 states:

a) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the paved or main-traveled portion of any highway outside municipal corporate limits unless disabled and impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving the vehicle upon the paved or main-traveled portion of the highway.

b) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle upon the shoulder outside municipal corporate limits unless it can be seen for 200 feet in both directions and does not obstruct the normal movement of traffic.

f) Any investigating law enforcement officer, with the concurence of DOT, may immediately remove or have removed from the State Highway System any wrecked, abandoned, disabled, unattended, burned... vehicle, cargo or personal property interfering with the regular flow of traffic or which otherwise constitues a hazard, without liability for property removal.

MOVE OVER LAW General Statute § 20-157 states:

e) It is unlawful for a driver, except on official business, to park and leave a vehicle within 100 feet of law enforcement or fire department vehicles, public or private ambulances, or rescue squad emergency vehicles which are engaged in the investigation of an accident or engaged in rendering assistance to victims of such accident.

f) When approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with lights flashing, drivers should: Move over to an adjacent lane if available or when safe to do so,

or

Slow down, maintaining a safe speed for traffic conditions and be prepared to stop.

NEXT STEPS…

NEXT STEPS…

Questions ?

Brian Purvis [email protected]

919-773-2975