Crash Responder Safety Week (November 17-21) begins Monday and shines a light on traffic incident responders who aid crash victims while safely and quickly clearing accidents and other traffic incidents.
Every minute of every day, firefighters, emergency medical service, law enforcement, towing and recovery, public works, safety service patrol, and other transportation professionals work to clear roadway crashes, debris and stalled vehicles.
MTC’s Freeway Service Patrol clears vehicle accidents, picks up dangerous items left on the roadway and helps stranded motorists. The fleet of roving tow trucks look for collisions and clear dangerous materials from the road, making Bay Area freeways safer. MTC also has an Incident Management Task Force that helps responders coordinate to reduce fatalities and serious injuries.
This year's safety week campaign message is "Safety Starts With You—Slow Down and Move Over" emphasizing the public's responsibility to drive safely around incident scenes to prevent injuries and deaths.
Bay Area motorists can participate by using tools like 511 for real-time traffic updates and by obeying the Move Over Law, which requires slowing down or moving over for flashing lights.
MTC, 511 and Caltrans District 4 remind all road users that by reducing speed while passing responders working roadside, drivers dramatically reduce the risk of a secondary crash.
The Federal Highway Administration began commemorating Crash Responder Safety Week in 2016. The campaign is used by national associations, state departments of transportation and departments of public safety, metropolitan planning organizations, and local departments of public works, cities, and individual responders to bring attention to traffic incident responder safety.
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