Traffic incidents cause 25 percent of delay on highways. These incidents can be dangerous for responders. From 2010 through 2012, at least 10 fire-fighters, 4 paramedics , and 7 law enforcement personnel died after being struck by vehicles while responding to incidents. Data on towing and recovery industry occupational fatalities are not well tracked, but the Towing and Recovery Association of America anecdotally reports losses nearing 100 towing operators in the line of service annually (9). A strong interdisciplinary traffic incident management program can improve responder safety; significantly decrease incident duration; and when combined with traveller information, can increase peak-period freeway speeds, reduce crash rates, and improve trip time reliability. To improve traffic incident management (TIM), the “National TIM Training Course” for TIM responders and managers was developed and refined through a series of SHRP 2 projects. Improving Traffic Incident Scene Management (SHRP 2 Project L12) and Train-the-Trainer Pilot Courses for Incident Responders and Managers (SHRP 2 Project L32A) are completed while two others are under way—e-Learning for Training Traffic Incident Responders and Managers (SHRP 2 Project L32B) and Post-Course Assessment and Reporting Tool for Trainers and TIM Responders Using the SHRP 2 Interdisciplinary Traffic Incident Management Curriculum (SHRP 2 Project L32C). This brief provides an overview of the SHRP 2 TIM series of projects. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting