M Focus on: Public Safety
Traffic incident management improves cooperation in Maine
By BETH ANNE BRINK-COX | The Municipal
Drivers don’t always observe the Move Over Law, which is mandatory everywhere except for Washington, D.C. It was determined in Maine that one quarter of all traffic fatalities result from secondary crashes caused by such factors as distracted driving. Maine State Police decided enough was enough, and set in motion a program that many other states use: traffic incident management. In no time at all, it was apparent that disobeying the Move Over Law was just a part of the problem. Lt. Bruce Scott of the MSP Traffic Safety Unit Scott’s department got involved in 2011. explained the T.I.M. program is not just a “We sent people out of state for training, Maine project. It was designed by the Federal thinking it was a good idea, and when we Highway Administration Program, funded by did that, we learned that there was a good Congress and launched in 2005 to increase model to follow and a shift away from the responder safety. traditional thinking. In the past, if there was “We look at it as a team sport, complete with an accident, we would immediately begin to a game plan,” said Scott, “and the real goal investigate and usually shut down the road is to reduce first responder injuries. Three until everything was managed. But when personal injury crashes occur every minute traffic is backing up, and drivers down the across the country, and that puts many others road, out of sight of the accident perhaps, in potential harm’s way from responding to don’t know it’s backing up, we have to mitisecondary incidents, as well.” gate that situation as quickly and safely as Scott elaborated, “Any accident that ties possible by opening up lanes and letting up or otherwise blocks the lanes of traffic will other traffic pass through. We understand resolve itself in ways you are not happy with, that the whole investigation is very imporbecause it affects roadway reliability as well tant, but we now do a quick assessment to see as other vehicles on those roads.” if we can open those other lanes, get people moving and work the scene the best we can.” 26 THE MUNICIPAL | APRIL 2022
Another thing that has changed thanks to the training is that such incidents are now seen as multi-jurisdictional. “There is no one person in charge, and the training includes scenarios for leaders on scene, allowing us to see through different eyes and experiences. We all have a function there, but now we know how to do them all at the same time, which cuts down on all forms of response time, while still respecting the inspection that is equally important,” said Scott. “We build relationships, learn what other agencies do and share what we do, as well. Prior to this, no one could really work in a unified system. No one knew what the other departments were doing. We think of it as a game plan now. In the shutdown days, there was the chain of, say, firefighters to law enforcement to the department of transportation, and that all takes time. For every minute of obstruction, it takes four minutes to recover; therefore, an hour of closed traffic can take four hours to clear up and get it all running smoothly again, which cuts down on road rage and secondary crashes,” explained Scott. Training across the state and the country became very important, and taking an active
