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Nation's First Responders Unite for Safer, Quicker Clearance of Traffic Incidents

In an unprecedented show of unity among highway agencies, emergency medical professionals, firefighters, tow truck operators, and 9-1-1 call centers, nineteen national organizations announced the launch of the National Unified Goal (NUG) for Traffic Incident Management on November 20. The major objectives of the NUG are to address responder safety; safe, quick clearance; and prompt, reliable, interoperable communications.

The NUG was developed by the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition (NTIMC), of which the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is a member. The NVFC Board of Directors adopted the NUG for Traffic Incident Management at its Spring Meeting on March 31.

“The safety of our nation’s first responders is paramount to our mission,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “Every year firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and other traffic incident responders are killed or injured during roadside emergency scenes. The National Unified Goal is a move in the right direction to improve communication and coordination among responders, as well as urge drivers to slow down and move over when they pass emergency scenes.”

Through the NUG, the leading national responder organizations pledged to work together to improve communication and coordination at crash scenes in order to minimize factors that can delay road clearance. In turn, the responders are asking motorists to slow down and move over when they approach traffic incident scenes, in order to reduce the number of responders injured and killed from being struck by passing vehicles while working at crash scenes, and to enable the responders to re-open travel lanes quicker.

Federal Highway Administrator J. Richard Capka congratulated NTIMC on its leadership in developing the National Unified Goal, and underscored the importance of safe, quick crash clearance. "Traffic congestion is one of the single largest threats to the nation's economic prosperity and way of life, and costs the United States an estimated $200 billion per year," Capka said. “Traffic incidents account for about one-quarter of all congestion on U.S. roadways. For every minute that a freeway travel lane is blocked during a peak travel period, four minutes of travel delay results after the incident is cleared. More efficient traffic incident management will reduce congestion and protect travelers and responders.”

Learn more about the National Unified Goal at http://nvfc.org/files/documents/2007proposednug207.pdf.

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