TRAFFIC INCIDENT FACTS

Traffic incidents account for about one-quarter of all congestion on U.S. roadways.

For every minute that a freeway travel lane is blocked during a peak travel period, four minutes of travel delay results after the incident is cleared.

Struck-by incidents, where passing motorists hit responders, are on the rise. In 2005, NIOSH reported 390 workers of all kinds were killed in struck-by incidents--up from 278 in 2004.  That year, struck-by incidents accounted for 7 percent of the total number of occupational injuries.

The web site  ResponderSafety.com  reports daily on all known struck- by incidents involving emergency responders.  On the average, at least two emergency responders are struck each day in America. Unfortunately, the trend is growing.

About 20 percent of all firefighter deaths are not related to firefighting at all, but occur due to vehicle-related incidents.

According to FBI statistics, between 1995 and 2006, an average of one U.S. law enforcement officer was struck and killed each month by a passing vehicle.

Data on highway workers killed at traffic incidents currently is not separated from overall statistics.  However, the highway industry has a strong focus on reducing worker deaths and injuries at highway construction work zones, where NIOSH estimates struck-by deaths (including workers struck by a passing vehicle, or mobile equipment) accounted for half of the 844 worker deaths between 1996 and 2002.

Data on deaths of towing service professionals in struck-by incidents also is not well documented, but the Towing and Recovery Association of America says it is a growing concern.  In just the first three months of 2006, five TRAA towers were killed at traffic incident scenes.  In response to the increasing numbers of struck-by incidents affecting AAA service club towers, AAA has just launched a "Slow Down Move Over" campaign to educate motorists to observe caution in approaching incident scenes.