arizona department of public safety highway patrol captain john philpot

Arizona Department of Public SafetyHighway Patrol

Captain John Philpot

BIO

• Az DPS Assignments– Patrol in rural and urban settings– K-9 – SWAT– Criminal Investigations

• Masters from Northern Arizona University

Traffic Incident Management

• TIM consists of a planned and coordinated multi-disciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents so that traffic flow may be restored as safely and quickly as possible. Effective TIM reduces the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improves the safety of motorists, crash victims and emergency responders.

First Responder Responsibility

• First Responders:– In TIM our job is to investigate and clear

the scene, be safe, be as efficient as possible and work as a team.

Responder Safety

The overarching reason for clearing roadways quickly is YOUR SAFETY! On average:

Each year, about 5 firefighters are killed in struck by incidents.Each month, about one police officer is struck by a vehicle and killed somewhere in the US.Each week, a tow operator is killed doing their job on our roads.Every three days, a worker is struck and killed in a roadway work zone.

4

First Responder Safety• Because of the nature of the work, first responders (Fire,

EMS, Towing, Transportation and Law Enforcement) are at higher risk of being involved in secondary collisions.

– Between 1987 and 2010 (24 years), 278 law enforcement officers were struck and killed by vehicles; that averages out to one officer killed each month.

– The fire service had five firefighters killed in “struck by” incidents in 2010, which accounted for about 6 percent of firefighter deaths.

– An average of 23 highway workers were struck and killed by vehicles each month in 2010 compared to 22 in 2009.

First Responder Safety – Officer Safety• To date, the Arizona DPS has lost 28 officers, 15

were traffic related and 11 of those were involved in secondary crashes.

Two types of CongestionReoccurring and Non-reoccurring Congestion

Bottlenecks 40%

Traffic Incidents 25%

Work Zones 10%

Bad Weather 15%

Poor Signal Timing, 5%

Special Events 5%

TIM focus is on Non-reoccurring Congestion (NRC)

• According to this information, traffic incidents make up 25% of all congestion.

• In a recent study in the Phoenix Metro area freeway system found the following information:

• 52% of congestion was NRC (I-10)• 78% of congestion was NRC (US-60)

– 80% of NRC were traffic incidents

• In rural Arizona we find that most of our congestion is non-reoccurring?

• Increased risk of secondary collisions, 2.8% per minute that an incident is on the roadway.

100% ÷ 2.8% = 35.71 minutes• Remember Crashes are random• A secondary collision could occur in the

first minute or the 35th minute.• Like in racing every second counts!

Why should Law Enforcement and other first responders attempt to reduce congestion?

Cultural Change in Az DPS

• In the 1990s, we had several collisions on I-17 that backed up traffic for nearly 60 miles, Since that time we have been chasing our TIM solutions with tenacious resolve.

• Culture of completing a full scale diagram on every collision was the norm since the inception of the Department.

Equipment/software

• Panasonic MDCs• TraCS software

The combination of these two items increased officer productivity and decreased the lag time at collision scenes.

Az DPS is committed to TIM.

• Policy

– D.O. 2.29 Traffic Patrol and Motorist Assistance– D.O. 2.58 Highway Operations Manual– D.O. 2.60 Traffic Stop and Incident Procedures

Az DPS is committed to TIM

• Manuals and other items

– Highway Operations Manual– Arizona Statewide Incident Management Plan– Statewide Alternative Route Plan– Support and Guidance from DPS management– TIM SROVT

Oct - Dec 2010: 4,793

• Non-Injury

– Roadway Clearance: 45 min

– Incident Clearance: 84 min

• Injury

– Roadway Clearance: 54 min

– Incident Clearance: 94 min

• Fatal

– Roadway Clearance: 212 min

– Incident Clearance: 214 min

April - June 2011: 4,366

• Non-Injury

– Roadway Clearance: 32 min (-28%)

– Incident Clearance: 40 min (-51%)

• Injury

– Roadway Clearance: 46 min (-14%)

– Incident Clearance: 58min (-37%)

• Fatal

– Roadway Clearance: 198 min (-6.78%)

– Incident Clearance: 211 min (-1.68%)

How is Az DPS Doing? “A Metro Snap-shot”

During Calendar year 2011 we experenced a 4 to 6% average secondary crashes!

Where would AzDPS be if we did not practice good TIM procedures?

• In 2011 we investigated 26,665 crashes of these 25,049 were primary crashes.

– We experienced 6% secondary crashes,1616. (National average is 20%)

– 541 of these were secondary to a crash.– 54 of these crashes involved a first responder.

(3.3% of all secondary crashes were 1st Responders)

Where would Az DPS be if we did not practice good TIM procedures?

• The national secondary crash rate was found to be 20% or more.

• If we had 25,049 crashes that would be an additional of 5,009 secondary crashes.

(25,049 x .20 = 5009 Sec. Crashes)

• If 3.3% of those involved first responders that could have been 167 instead of 54!

Strategies for Continued Success

• Ad Hoc and/or formal TIM coalitions statewide within areas and or districts.

• Memorialize TIM strategies as an HPD priority in HPD Policy.

• Add performance goals into HPD Strategic Plan to:• Further reduce secondary collisions involving first

responders and motorists• Further reduce roadway clearance times• Further reduce incident clearance times

AZ State Laws

• Two laws were added to increase the level of safety for persons on the highways.– ARS 28-674 Move off of the roadway if you

are involved in a minor collision

State Laws

ARS 28-775E “Move over Law” If a motorist is able to, they must move over when an emergency vehicle is stopped.

Training

• Annual Officer Training• Train the Trainer for TIMS

– Train local fire companies• City Fire Department challenges• Training towing companies

Questions?