Week honors first responders who work with traffic and draws bead on keeping them safe while at work

Virginia Department of Transportation is joining with other organizations across the nation to recognize National Traffic Incident Response Week, Nov. 14-18.

Each year, emergency responders from fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, transportation, utilities, and towing are struck and either injured or killed while on the scene of traffic incidents.

There are steps drivers can take to help keep responders safe:

• Make sure you see them. Stay focused when driving through incident scenes by staying off of your phone, keeping both hands on the wheel, and watching for responders in the road.

• Slow down and move over when passing an incident scene to provide a protective buffer for responders. 

• If your car is drivable and there are no injuries, move your car to the shoulder or nearby safe place off of the road. Drivers may not realize how many VDOT employees work incident scenes daily to restore lanes quickly, including:

• Incident Management Coordinators, who represent VDOT in incident command, coordinate scene and lane clearance to restore traffic flow quickly, and communicate needs and status to the Transportation Operations Center.

• The District Safety Manager, who investigates work zone crashes, evaluates crew safety practices, and ensures response scenes meet national safety standards.

• Safety Service Patrollers, who render first aid or CPR to the injured, and close and reopen lanes during incidents to ensure a safe working area for first responders.

• Maintenance crews, who set up traffic control and detour signs, assist in cleanup and fix damaged assets.

• Bridge crews, who inspect and repair damaged bridges; and Signs, Signals, and Electrical crews who fix signals and structures, and make electrical components safe.

Follow @vadotnova on Twitter this week to meet some of the many employees working to keep northern Virginia roads safe during incidents.