April 3, 2019 was a ‘Red Letter Day’ for the Emergency
Responder Safety Institute and Respondersafety.com. A major press conference was held at the
Miami, Florida Fire Department. The results of a joint ERSI/National Safety
Council survey on distracted driving were made public at the event in
Miami.
According to a survey released today by the National Safety Council and the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, 71
percent of U.S. drivers take photos or videos when they see an emergency
vehicle on the side of the road responding to a fire or a crash, or simply
making a routine traffic stop. Sixty percent post to social media, and 66
percent send an email about the situation – all while behind the wheel. Those
distracting behaviors are markedly less frequent, but still alarming, during
normal driving conditions – 24 percent of drivers surveyed said they take
photos or video while driving, 29 percent admitted to using social media and 24
percent said they send email.
These responses will serve as the basis for our new
educational efforts in the area of distracted drivers. “The Emergency
Responder Safety Institute was born 21 years ago following the tragedy of two
highway incidents that took the lives of first responders who were struck while
helping others,” said Greg Yost, President of the Cumberland Valley Volunteer
Firemen’s Association, parent organization of the Emergency Responder Safety
Institute. “Because of distracted driving, we’ve been focusing our efforts on
educating drivers who are often not paying careful enough attention when
passing emergency scenes. In 2019, already 16 responders have lost their lives
and many others have been injured in these types of crashes,” he added.
Other important findings
from the poll include:
·
19
percent of drivers admit their own inattentive driving has probably put first
responders at unnecessary risk
·
Despite
being willing to engage in risky behaviors while driving around emergency
vehicles, 62 percent say they are “above average” drivers when passing an
emergency vehicle with its lights flashing on the side of the road
·
24 percent do not realize that there are legal
requirements for what drivers must do when they see an emergency vehicle on the
side of the road
·
Even though 97 percent say they will see an
emergency vehicle if it has its flashing lights on, 74 percent would still like
responders to wear reflective clothing
·
80 percent of drivers say they slow down to get a better look when
they see an emergency response vehicle tending to a fire, crash or traffic
stop. Doing so backs up traffic and creates other safety hazards.
·
Encouragingly, 67 percent have heard of “Move
Over” laws and 73 percent say they move over when they see an emergency vehicle
stopped on the side of the road with its lights on – the proper response on
nearly all roadways
“Those that serve the public are exposed to a number of
risks, including risks from those that they serve,” said I. David Daniels,
chair of the NSC Government and Public Sector Division, which initiated the
NSC-ERSI partnership. “These two organizations’ joint efforts will most
certainly help increase safety for public sector workers and reduce
communities’ costs incurred from vehicle crashes involving public employees.”
After more than two decades on work on highway
safety-related matters for our responder community, the time has come to take
the next step. We must reach out to
educate the driving community in North America.
We need to show the public what they must do to keep us safety when we
operating on the highways and byways of response areas. We have a continuing need to train our own
personnel. We now have a new task which
involves reaching out to the general public.
We here at
Respondersafety.com would urge you to review the full report. The survey and methodology are available at nsc.org/firstrespondersurvey. For more
information about Distracted Driving Awareness Month, visit nsc.org/ddmonth.