July 5, 2005

Get out of the way

       Motorists turn in front of a driver who is already stressed out from trying to maneuver north on State Road 135 during busy evening traffic.  More cars turn in front of him, and he shakes his head and honks his loud horn at them.  “People are always in such a hurry,” he said before beginning the drive.  But this motorist isn’t just in a hurry to get home or to work. He’s racing to an emergency.  State law says drivers are supposed to move to the right side of the road and stop when an emergency vehicle is approaching, but fire departments say many motorists don’t follow that law.  Summer is the time of year when driver inattention is the worst because people have their stereos and air conditioners blasting, Whiteland Fire Department Chief Larry Kephart said.  With so much traffic, especially in northern parts of the county, even drivers who want to get out of the way sometimes have nowhere to go.  White River firefighter Wayne Fletcher understands drivers who want to get to where they are going fast. That’s his job every day.  On every run the department goes on, firefighters see drivers pull out in front of the truck or not move out of the way, he said.

         Fire departments in the county have five words for drivers: Get out of the way.  In rural areas, fire departments have to deal with winding, narrow roads where they sometimes can’t go around other drivers even if they stop, said Tony Napier, Trafalgar Fire Department chief.  Another problem, congestion, especially in Greenwood and White River Township, also makes responding to calls difficult for fire departments.  Several departments, including White River, Greenwood and Trafalgar, cited State Road 135 as being difficult to navigate in traffic.  Smith Valley Road between State Road 37 and State Road 135 is a big mess, no matter what time it is, said Jim Engmark, a spokesman for the White River Township Fire Department.  Another problem area is near Greenwood Park Mall, especially during the holiday shopping season, said Lt. Tom Kite, spokesman for the Greenwood Fire Department.  Both U.S. 31 and Interstate 65 were cited as huge problems for the Whiteland and Franklin departments.  With all the traffic, firefighters have to worry about accidents they could get into when they respond to calls, Fletcher said.  He said he had a close call earlier in the day when a driver had to go onto the lawn of a house to avoid an accident.  Kite said his department has been fortunate so far and his drivers haven’t been in any accidents with other vehicles. Part of the reason for the clean record is that the department’s drivers have to follow state guidelines and department rules to help avoid accidents, he said.  The departments still have to follow traffic laws that other drivers are bound by. Trucks must stop at red lights and at stop signs before proceeding through intersections.  Drivers also are not supposed to drive more than 15 mph above the speed limit, Kite said.  Other drivers on the road are supposed to yield to the emergency vehicles by moving over to the right side of the road and stopping. If they can’t move over, drivers should stop and turn on their hazard lights. That way, the truck driver knows the person in the car has seen them, Kite said.  Fletcher said some drivers might not know that they need to pull to the right and stop.  “If you don’t know what to do, just stop. We’ll go around you,” he said.

         Department chiefs said they think the reason many drivers don’t move over is because they aren’t paying attention to see the truck behind them.  “Some people are oblivious to what’s going on around them,” Kite said.  Many of the departments said it was hard to say how much traffic and drivers getting in the way affects their response time.  Kite said it is possible their response could be affected by 30 seconds to a minute.  Both the response time to get to the scene and the safety of firefighters are concerns to Kephart.  He said drivers need to review what they are supposed to do when they get next to an emergency vehicle.  “People need to realize exactly what those red lights and sirens mean,” Kephart said.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)  See a related story from 2003 by clicking HERE.

 

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