USDOT Congestion Initiative Focus on Incident Management

USDOT has placed a special emphasis on the advancement of driver removal (or "Move It") laws, full-function service patrols, high-level State policy agreements for safe, and quick incident clearance, and integrated interagency communications. The Federal Highway Administration is working through its Division Offices to aggressively promote these strategies through awareness, training, peer-to-peer exchange, and the provision of model legislation.

Driver removal laws are considered key strategies for speeding clearance of noninjury crashes, which accounted for about two-thirds of all crashes on U.S. roadways in 2002. These laws encourage or require drivers involved in noninjury crashes to move crashed vehicles out of roadways if they can do so safely. Move It laws also may empower responders to move vehicles and debris. By moving vehicles quickly out of travel lanes, drivers reopen blocked lanes, reduce congestion, reduce the likelihood of secondary incidents, and place themselves and responders in safer locations. Nearly half of all States have enacted Move It laws, though the laws vary widely in their wording and requirements. The Congestion Initiative seeks to encourage enactment of Move It laws in all States and to improve consistency in wording.

Full-function service patrols provide important onscene services to clear minor incidents and disabled vehicles and, when properly equipped, can provide a broad range of services by working with other responders to clear major incidents more quickly. Most important, however, a service patrol can assist with traffic control at the incident, protecting responders and warning and guiding approaching motorists safely and efficiently past the incident. FHWA developed a police memorandum in 2006, titled "Use of Service Patrols for Safe and Quick Clearance of traffic Incidents:  Recommended Practices and Guidance." The goal for the memo is implementation of "24/7" full-service patrol coverage on all urban freeways.

Policies on safe, quick clearance set the direction - at a policy level of partner agencies - that guides programmatic actions and results in quicker clearance and safer responders. Particularly in congested areas, public perception of transportation and response agencies hinges on the efficiency of traffic incident clearance. Clearance policies should contain performance goals to be most effective.

Integrated interagency communication facilitate the sharing of accurate and unambiguous information about an incident among responding partners, resulting in quicker and after incident clearance and more reliable information conveyed to travelers to minimize unexpected delays. Integration of public safety computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems and ITS technologies facilitates more effective use of resources on the scene within the incident command system. Further, collaboration enables fusing of data from transportation and public safety systems for more complete and accurate performance measurement of traffic incident management programs.