Wreck Interstate Blockage

[bombermwc]

Does anyone know if there is any sort of penalty placed on crews or those in the accident for how much they block traffic? I've been behind a few wrecks on the interstates in OK/TX lately that blocked all lanes on one side, and I come up to the scene only to see firefighters and police officers sitting around bull****ting. It seems like they could be helping to clear debris to at least get traffic flowing on one lane or even the shoulder. This past week, the tow truck was trying to pull a SUV off the cable barrier so it was blocking lanes in both directions. This was just over the Eastern Ave bridge on 240. Makes perfect sense to to me to back up and route traffic to the off-ramp. But when they do that, they need to stick an officer down at the intersection to prioritize the interstate traffic instead of making it stop at the freaking stop sign like normal. Simple things like that can keep things moving but it seems like no one ever does anything like this.

It's so incredibly frustrating to see, quite literally, miles of cars just sitting there and no one doing any actual work at the scene. That includes AFTER the wreck has been cleared. Get our a broom and get to work guys.

[rezman]

It maybe because their priority is trying to extricate an injured person from the wreckage and then they will deal with traffic. Another reason may be because with so many people doing everything behind the wheel BUT driving, they don't want traffic flying by them, and into them while the scene is being cleared.

[oklip955]

I'm a retired firefighter who has worked lots of accident sceens. First off, we block traffic with rigs to try to insure safety of all on the sceen. After medical care has been accessed and taken care of. The police/highway patrol is responsible for accident investigation. It is up to them to determine when vehicles can be moved. Then it is up to the wrecher companies to move the vehicles. He are not equipped to handle that and will only do that in an extreme situation. I understand it is a real pain to be sitting for a long time in traffic but that is the only way. We block off lanes or even all lanes in the interest of safety. also since sometimes we have rigs on the sceen only to be used to block off traffic, you may be seeing firefighters standing around. The assigned firefighters stay with their assigned rigs.

[rezman]

[oklip955]

That whole thing turned into a big fight over jurisdiction. And no the firefighter did not get in trouble. I forgot all the details but it was just a bunch of people wanting to step on each others toes instead of working together.

[rezman]

I recall a number of years back that a Midwest City fire rig got smacked on I-40 while they were tending to a wreck. They didn't have proper protection by LEOs behind them.

[corwin1968]

That's nuts! What an unprofessional way for the cop to handle it. I hope he got reprimanded for his actions.

[bombermwc]

Im all for protecting the scene, but there needs to be some reason to it as well. It impacts more than the people in the accident. More often than not, if there is an injury at all, its minor and can be moved off the street. We're required by law to move our vehicle if its capable of being moved, it seems like there should be some attention paid to do the same for those that can't. Yeah, we have to wait for the tow truck to get there, but there's PLENTY to do to get the road cleared that doesn't require a tow truck like getting debris moved. Placement of the rig is also something that could use some attention. Look at any wreck and there really isn't thought put into how far out into the next lane they go. If it's a big wreck and it's not going anywhere soon, stick an officer out front, move the little pieces of debris off the lane and get traffic going. If the road can't be used, then do what i said about the exit lane.

I'm not heartless, my father was a paramedic for 15+ years so we've had PLENTY of family friends from various fire departments and from police departments. So it's not as though i don't appreciate the situation. But knowing how they approached incidents in the past makes me that much more annoyed that the same logical approach is NOT used today. As someone else mentioned, OHP or city crews get in arrangements about who's running things (and oh hell if a sheriff gets on scene where NO ONE wants them).

My mother was recently the last car in a large wreck on i-40 downtown that involved side hits from the far outside lane all the way to the inside lane.....all because some idiot on the inside lane wasn't looking. That wreck blocked all of I-40 for a bit, but the crews working that did quick thought work to make sure traffic could still flow. Yeah, they have 5 lanes of space to look at, but they also had a whole lot of cars involved in the very complicated case. So if they can do that, you can't tell me the same thought cant be used in a 1 or 2 vehicle accident. The cable barrier case, for instance, if you know that the tow truck is going to need all lanes on one side to drag the car off the cable.....move the traffic off the road instead of stopping at at a dead stop for 30 minutes, which causes 6 miles of parking lot.

Yeah, this is a bit of a soap box piss fest, but i get so tired of this stuff and there's no where to voice frustrations with the policies!!!!!

[Anonymous.]

I don't mind the emergency crews.

It is the people who touched bumpers and simply throw it in park in the middle of the street to "preserve the scene". It is way more dangerous to just put on your hazards and sit in the middle of traffic than it is to move over to a shoulder. Why do people act as if there is a murder scene that needs to be dusted for fingerprints when they got a dent in the bumper?

[rezman]

My daughter was recently involved in a 3 vehicle accident on NW 178th near Western. She was #1 car and stopped for a school bus, and vehicle #2 stopped behind her and then Vehicle # 3 came flying up and slamed into # 2, knocking it into my daughter. All 3 drivers are 17, all go to the same school and had just left the school parking lot minutes before, and they all called the parents. When I got there, the other parents were already there and the cars were still in the street in the #1 lane. That stretch of 178th is a 50mph zone, so that made it imperative the we got the cars out of the street, as other motorists were slamming on their brakes and skidding , trying to avoid slamming in to #3 car. That area is in Okc and it took over an hour for the police to arrive. A county sherriff deputy pulled up and said he couldn't work the wreck, but he did position his cruiser behind the wrecks with his lights on so we could get the cars moved on to a nearby side street, and then he left. I was surprised that vehicle #3 was able to start and drive out of the way though. It was pretty messed up.

So yes, this was a perfect example of why fender benders need to be moved out of the way as soon a possible.

[Midtowner]

I don't really feel at all bad for people who are inconvenienced by safety measures taken by emergency crews or by people who have been involved in serious collisions. That said, some of the anecdotes are illustrative of OKC's failure to devote adequate funding to emergency services. I know that's been a big bone of contention with the Shadid cabal. We all know that being caught in traffic is always a possibility. A lot of GPS systems do a good job of keeping up with live traffic updates and providing alternate routes. Maybe it would be good to invest in something like that?

[oklip955]

As far as parking rigs on the scene. They are parked there for visablity and safety. Basically they are to protect the first responders. Its better for someone to smack a big red truck then to hit and kill a firefighter, police officer or ems. Big red trucks can be replace or repaired, a person can be killed by a gacker. And yes big red truck are also blocking traffic to provide a safe area for the wrecher drivers to clear vehicles. We also shut down interstates to make a LZ (landing zone for medical helicopters) recently one got struck by a DUI driver. Cannot imagine the paperwork on that one.

[oklip955]

Ops I forgot to say, I don't remember what state the helicopter/car accident happened.

[Snowman]

I don't mind the emergency crews.

It is the people who touched bumpers and simply throw it in park in the middle of the street to "preserve the scene". It is way more dangerous to just put on your hazards and sit in the middle of traffic than it is to move over to a shoulder. Why do people act as if there is a murder scene that needs to be dusted for fingerprints when they got a dent in the bumper?

Not everyone knows what to do in cases of accidents or forgot what they heard about it years ago, I had known a few people that did not even know how to turn off safety features that automatically engage after impact which prevent powered moving and If you had never though about it why would you try push a car in neutral. Plus what is recommended to be done has changed over time and was different to begin with in different regions. Add to that even without major injury people may not be thinking the clearest after an impact.