The Dangers of Traffic Control and How to Minimalize Them

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Police and firefighters often find themselves needing to do traffic control duty at incidents.  Whether they are mitigating a vehicle accident scene, establishing a safe perimeter, or even just protecting fire hoses and other equipment, this dangerous task needs to be performed.

Twelve years ago, this was very evident when Dennis Grant, a PM Twp Firefighter was struck by a minivan driven by 17 year old Nga Nguyen while responding to an accident involving County Administrator, Fabian Knizacky.  Nga reportedly said she hadn't seen the accident scene and started hitting cones set up to block the lane before hitting Grant, who suffered broken lower leg bones as a result and various road rash injuries. 

As the accident involved a rolled over vehicle in the median of US 31 near Meisenheimer Road in the middle of the afternoon, one can suspect that the driver was not paying attention to the road ahead of her prior to her collision with Firefighter Grant.  Perhaps the rollover took her mind away from looking out for emergency vehicles responding to the accident, one of the dangers of 'rubbernecking'.

On Just recently, another responder, a 17 year veteran of the Saginaw Township Police force named Matthew Eckerman (pictured above at a recent awards ceremony),  was hit in the township while doing traffic control around a fire scene.  A vehicle hit Eckerman about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, as he directed traffic at McCarty and Maplewoods West.  He was recuperating nicely.

When Eckerman was hit on Wednesday, he and other police were assisting firefighters who were called at 8:51 p.m. Wednesday to douse an engulfed party store on the corner of McCarty and Mackinaw.  Information about the driver of the vehicle was not immediately available nor was he immediately charged with any violation, according to Mlive.  They included a picture of the scene below.

As noted, emergency scenes adjacent or on the roadway typically have a distracting effect on the passing drivers, but at nighttime there is a bit more at play than this.  Not only can it be difficult to see the responders in the darkness and multiple shadows, but the incident lights can sometimes blind and disorient drivers.  The obvious precautions for drivers is to slow down, keep your eyes on the road ahead of you (glance away at your own risk), and pull off if you get blinded by lights, letting the emergency responders know of your problem with the setup.

The precautions for the responders is to be as visible as you can, concentrate on the incoming traffic, don't make yourself vulnerable by acting as a pylon in the road, and have a last-minute safe escape route and be ready to take it when needed for many may not see you.

It is unknown from the various articles on this accident what was the cause of this accident.  One has to presume from the aftermath that the driver wasn't completely at fault, for if he had that would have been noted.  The lack of any formal charges against the driver at this point when the victim is a police officer is indicative of there being little fault if any of the driver, and there being witnesses to that fact, perhaps including Officer Eckerman. 

One must also notice the absence of reflective clothing on the officers in the photo or the lack of any sort of flashlight while they are hanging out in the road.  Chances are the roadway is closed further along, but they still seem a bit too unconcerned even with an officer down already at the incident.  Police navy blues blend in too well with the night and the inevitable shadows.

If the police ever want to release the records, we may know for sure, before then, be safe when you see an emergency scene at night, whether you're a driver or responder.