Driving Precautions to Prevent Crashes

By BRUCE KNOLL
For those who frequently read or watch the news, it should come as no surprise that one of the most common instances of emergency services in the news include responding to incidents. However, more often than needed, the news is the emergency they’ve caused themselves during their response through an apparatus crash.
While not all apparatus crashes are the fault of those driving the expensive public equipment, a few basic precautions can be taken to help minimize the chances of you being involved in an apparatus crash. Here’s four things to consider about your apparatus response before hitting the road.
1. Apparatus Circle of Safety
One of the easiest techniques to prevent accidents before your response is to get drivers in the habit of performing a “circle of safety” before ever moving the truck out of the firehouse or away from the emergency scene. With today’s reliance on technology, drivers often rely on an warning light or alarm to notify them if a door is ajar or a compartment not secure, but simply walking around the apparatus before moving is still the best way to ensure nothing is open and there are no hazards blocking your truck’s progress forward.
This is important not only before the incident, but upon your return to quarters as well. Unfortunately, a growing trend in Line of Duty Deaths has been firefighters being struck by their own apparatus while driving in reverse to park. The January 2009 death of an Elizabeth, NJ firefighter was ruled to be the result of being struck by an apparatus backing up on scene. And last week, the Phoenix Fire Department ruled that the lack of a spotter resulted in the May 18 death of 23-year-old firefighter Brad Harper earlier this year.
A circle of safety at these incidents likely would have saved the lives of two firefighters. Take the extra few seconds to prevent another death.
2. Beware of Intersections
This may seem like a common sense point to anyone who has driven an emergency vehicle before, as it’s not hard to figure out that intersections present an increased risk for collisions. But it’s the assumptions made by those behind the wheel of the apparatus about intersections that can cause the most trouble.
It’s common knowledge that you’re not going to go blowing through a red light just because you’ve got lights and sirens activated on your truck, you’re going to make the conscious effort to come to a stop and clear the intersection before proceeding. But the same should be done every time you come to an intersection, regardless of whether you have the right of way or not.
Just last week in Kenilworth, NJ a police officer and fire chief responding to the same car fire near the Garden State Parkway collided at an intersection, resulting in both drivers needing to be transported to an area hospital. And in one of the most highly publicized apparatus crashes in recent years, two St. Louis F.D. ladder trucks collided while responding to the same house fire in 2008, resulting in one of the trucks to roll over following the collision.
Drivers are unpredictable—emergency lights and sirens cause drivers to make irrational decisions. But the drivers of emergency vehicles can also be a hazard to other emergency apparatus responding to the same call. Be sure to leave yourself a route of egress at every intersection, and the stopping distance needed to avoid a collision.
3. Beware of Pedestrians
Assuming you’re seen or heard is one of the easiest mistakes to be made by apparatus drivers—we’ve all been there. But unlike other vehicles, pedestrians don’t have the luxury of a rear-view mirror to show them what’s coming from behind, and with the quality of modern headphones, they can’t always hear what’s coming either. Also use caution when proceeding past pedestrians, and anticipate surprise and the movements that come with it.
Children present a different challenge in terms of pedestrians, especially when it comes to parades. Children, by nature, are drawn to lights, and are often looking to get closer to fire trucks. And as a result, children are often out of a driver’s line-of-sight and accidentally struck by drivers. Last week, a 10-year-old Boston child was struck by an ambulance responding to an emergency when she reportedly ran out in front of the ambulance while attempting to cross the street. The girl suffered minor injuries.
Drivers should attempt to avoid areas that are highly populated with pedestrians and children, and use the assistance of multiple spotters form within the apparatus at parades to ensure that all pedestrians are a safe distance from the apparatus.
4. Just Drive
This fourth and final recommendation is undoubtedly the easiest for drivers to follow, and it’s a simple recommendation at that: Just drive that apparatus. Too often drivers are worried about managing all aspects of the fire truck, from piloting through heavy traffic, to operating the sirens, airhorn, and radio all simultaneously.
The only time drivers should be talking on the radio and operating the siren is if they’re the only person in the apparatus—period. You’re almost always responding with more than one person in a truck, and there’s no reason the person sitting in the right front seat can’t operate the sirens, radio, and GPS. Refusal to allow the other person to do so, quite frankly, is greatly increasing the risk for distraction and disaster, and should not be acceptable in today’s age.
Apparatus crashes aren’t good for anyone involved. People get hurt, departments are without a vital piece of equipment for months, and the costs for repairs, legal settlements, and other expenses can easily reach into hundreds of thousands of dollars. We aren’t doing any good if we’re causing more emergencies than there was when we left the firehouse. Drive carefully. Stay safe.
Knoll, 21, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at beyondtheflamescmc@gmail.com. He is a student at Rowan University.