Third Senior Executive Transportation and Public Safety Summit: Final Report
8. State and Local Traffic Incident Management Laws
This session moderated by Keith Williams, Division Chief within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Safety Programs, offered firsthand experiences in enacting traffic incident management (TIM)-focused legislation, executive orders, and regulations to improve the safety of responders and travelers. TIM legislation/regulation focuses on three areas:
- Slow down and move over laws that include all responder types.
- Driver and authority removal laws that clarify whether a driver or a TIM authority (e.g., safety service patrol) can move the vehicle out of mainline traffic.
- A suite of mandates that may require TIM training, which may include the running of a TIM Committee, or other specific TIM strategies.
Towing and repair operator Linda Unruh shared her personal story of how loss channeled her effort to enact Bobby's Law, which now requires drivers to slow down and move over for tow truck operators in New Mexico. Linda's son, Bobby Unruh, was responding to an incident when he observed a commercial vehicle headed in their direction. He stepped out of the safety zone to move another responder to safety, but was unable to return to safety himself. After the loss of his life, Linda Unruh was shocked to hear that New Mexico's Move Over law did not include tow and recovery operators. She worked with the towing industry, the State legislature, and the Governor's office to pass Bobby's Law within 19 days.
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) ITS Administrator Stephen Glascock at spoke to Louisiana's resolution (RS23:152) for Police Officer Standards and Training (POST)-certified traffic incident management course requirements. He also spoke regarding improving freight crash incident management through an instant tow dispatch program, authority removal law, and freight TIM training.
Figure 21. Photo. Linda Unruh shares her effort to enact Bobby's Law.
Source: Federal Highway Administration
Colonel Gary Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent, highlighted how Virginia State Executive Orders 58 and 15 formally established a Statewide TIM Committee and continued support for the committee by the State Government. He also shared elements of the Virginia House Bill 2022 (in year 2017), which clarified other details, including giving authority to remove vehicles and cargoes of vehicles involved in crashes. Virginia's Executive Orders also established a formal statewide TIM committee to support TIM Responder training.
