An awareness week held in honor of America’s emergency responders has taken place with a call to action for drivers to reduce their speed.
This year’s Crash Responder Safety Week had the theme is “Responders Ahead! Reduce Your Speed As You Proceed.”
The national effort was held to remind drivers, passengers, and all who use the nation’s roadways of the critical role they play in keeping everyone safe.
“Crash responders put their lives on the line every day, committing courageous acts of service to keep us safe, respond to crashes, and protect others around us,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator (FHWA) Kristin White.
“Safety is FHWA’s north star, and we work closely with federal, state and local partners to ensure we slow down, move over, and remain alert so we can save lives when crashes occur and protect the injured and our crash responders.”
In FHWA launched Traffic Incident Management (TIM) training in 2012 designed by and for responders to help teams of police, firefighters, highway workers, and emergency medical services and towing personnel ensure safe and effective coordination at a crash scene. In the training, responders learn a common set of effective practices, including quick clearance techniques, that improve communications and reduce the amount of time needed to remain on scene.
The FHWA said to date, more than 750,000 responders have been trained with the TIM training program, representing all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The training goes together with TIM tools, technologies, and policies to improve the safety of responders.
