BOZEMAN, MONTANA – 11/14/2022 – In support of the national Crash Responder Safety Week (CRSW), November 14-18, the National Center for Rural Road Safety calls on drivers to commit to slowing down and moving over when traffic incident responders are on the scene of a crash.
From January through October this year, 40 traffic incident responders have been killed while responding to traffic incidents, and far more sustained life-altering injuries. The CRSW theme this year is, “Respect Our Roadside Heroes.”
“In rural areas, where road pavements and modes of travel are varied, drivers should respect the roadside heroes by slowing down and moving over – when safely possible – during a traffic incident,” said Jaime Sullivan, the director of the center. “Responders arrive on scene to prevent further injury, not to be injured themselves. It is imperative that drivers follow the road rules to make sure these heroes can execute their duties safely.”
The National Center for Rural Road Safety recently relaunched its Road Safety Champion Program (RSCP), which includes the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)’s Traffic Incident Management (TIM) training as one of the modules. The RSCP is a nationally recognized certificate program for practitioners in transportation, public health, and law enforcement. It is designed for people without deep road safety knowledge.
“This program is the best tool we have to equip local road practitioners with the knowledge base they’ll need to save lives in rural communities,” Sullivan said.
For more information about the RSCP, visit ruralsafetycenter.org/road-safety-champion-program/. To join in on CRSW initiative, visit transportationops.org/TIM/CRSW.
