{"id":1639,"date":"2012-06-04T09:29:02","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T13:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1639"},"modified":"2012-06-08T14:13:54","modified_gmt":"2012-06-08T18:13:54","slug":"safe-traffic-direction-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1639","title":{"rendered":"Safe Traffic Direction Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I was at a serious DUI traffic crash the other night.\u00a0 All of the eastbound lanes of a six-lane state road were impassable.\u00a0 I was assisting a new officer in maneuvering traffic in a U-turn away from the scene.<\/p>\n

The rookie did not have a traffic cone for his small tactical flashlight, nor did he have a whistle on him.\u00a0 He was obviously not well skilled in traffic direction yet, so I kept an eye on him.\u00a0 I loaned him my Streamlight Stinger and yellow cone.\u00a0 I went to my cruiser for a sec to check the computer status screen and see if any priority calls were holding.<\/p>\n

That’s when it happened.\u00a0 The rook’s ambiguous flashlight motions confused a driver.\u00a0 I looked up in time to see a mini-van move through the median break, pass the officer, and accelerate eastbound into westbound traffic!\u00a0 The rookie looked at me in shock and shouted, “Uh, can you get that?”\u00a0 Holy sh*t.<\/p>\n

I slammed the car door and flipped on every light my cruiser owned.\u00a0 Siren wailing on high-low, I floored the CVPI into the wrong lanes, chasing after the wayward driver.\u00a0 There were no westbound cars for about a quarter mile, but that traffic just got a green light and was headed our way.<\/p>\n

Still confused, the driver did not stop as I flew up behind.\u00a0 I believe he thought I was pulling up to the original crash scene, which was now abreast of us.\u00a0 The van was in the median lane, so I kept on the gas and swung around him using the center lane.\u00a0 Aaand, I’m seeing headlights closing!\u00a0 I only had seconds.<\/p>\n

As I roared by, I glanced at the van.\u00a0 It was surreal.\u00a0 Dad, mom, the kids, and probably the family dog jauntily motoring along where the nice officer had told them to go.\u00a0 Just as the ass-end of my Slicktop passed the front of the van, I cut in front of them and slowly applied brakes to bring them to a stop.<\/p>\n

The family looked a little stunned as the first of the oncoming cars zipped by.\u00a0 With an apology, I got them safely into the traffic flow.\u00a0 Then, I returned to the scene of the mistake to give the rookie a sobering critique and the basic tips.<\/p>\n

First and foremost:\u00a0 Always wear your reflective vest!\u00a0 Regardless if it is night or day.\u00a0 The darn thing is ANSI compliant for visibility and you are not.<\/p>\n

Second, know clear hand signals.\u00a0 Hard to recreate here, but hand signals in daylight are much different than using that flashlight and cone in the darkness.\u00a0 Simple movements to direct the cars are best.\u00a0 Waving them forward, pointing toward turns, and holding out a hand or light for stop work best.<\/p>\n

Next, you need your whistle.\u00a0 One long blow for stop. \u00a0Two short chirps for go.\u00a0 This auditory addition to good hand signals is essential if you want to get their attention.\u00a0 And you do.<\/p>\n

Make eye contact with drivers when possible.\u00a0 There is no clearer way to judge their intent than with seeing that they see you.\u00a0 Non-verbal cues can save your life.\u00a0 You can also watch the vehicle’s front tires.\u00a0 They are directional indicators.<\/p>\n

Take a good position.\u00a0 When performing traffic control in a large intersection with turn lanes, stand in the debris field in the center of the intersection.\u00a0 That is where the cars don’t drive when traveling straight through or turning.\u00a0 Make this your happy place.<\/p>\n

Do not stand behind your fully lit cruiser and wave a flashlight around in the dark.\u00a0 With a light bar, strobes, and standard illumination, your squad looks like a UFO.\u00a0 The drivers will not see you and your Maglite making Fourth of July sparkler motions out there.<\/p>\n

If a driver is not following your instruction, do not aggressively walk toward them or try to physically block their path.\u00a0 They will undoubtedly win this game of chicken and you will just end up as a two dimensional shape in some traffic crash diagram.\u00a0 Continue your attempts at communication from your happy place.<\/p>\n

DO NOT TRUST THE DRIVING PUBLIC.\u00a0 They are unpredictable and can be easily confused by the chaos of an accident scene or emergency.\u00a0 This is especially true at night.<\/p>\n

Two officers work better in a multilane intersection, if they are communicating well.\u00a0 One should be the primary and call the shots.\u00a0 This will minimize conflicting directions, which ultimately lead to paperwork.<\/p>\n

Watch those larger vehicles.\u00a0 They take up more space in the roadway.\u00a0 I have literally had the side view mirror of a big truck brush my hair as it passed too closely.\u00a0 Yeow!<\/p>\n

Traffic control is one of our more dangerous daily jobs because we are virtually unprotected.\u00a0 Keep your head on a swivel, be paranoid, and use common sense.\u00a0 We have to take it seriously, as lives are at risk.<\/p>\n

Randall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was at a serious DUI traffic crash the other night.\u00a0 All of the eastbound lanes of a six-lane state road were impassable.\u00a0 I was assisting a new officer in maneuvering traffic in a U-turn away from the scene. The rookie did not have a traffic cone for his small tactical flashlight, nor did he have a whistle on him.\u00a0 He was obviously not well skilled in traffic direction yet, so I kept an eye on him.\u00a0 I loaned him my Streamlight Stinger and yellow cone.\u00a0 I went to my cruiser for a sec to check the computer status screen and see if any priority calls were holding. That’s when … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[327,328,329],"class_list":["post-1639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-officer-safety","category-street","tag-police-traffic-direction","tag-safe-traffic-control","tag-traffic-vest"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28xkp-qr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1639"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1710,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639\/revisions\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}