Gridlock Guy: Safety after crashes part of HERO training

Georgia DOT HERO operators have specific procedures for setting up cones after a crash. GDOT

Georgia DOT HERO operators have specific procedures for setting up cones after a crash. GDOT

As one might expect, we see crash scenes all the time in the WSB Skycopter and via the WSB Jam Cams in our 24-Hour Traffic Center. Knowing what lanes are blocked as the result of a crashfrom a secondhand source is one thing, but seeing how many cars are involved and how bad they’re wrecked, how many first responders are on scene, and what lanes are blocked and for how far help us better assess what is happening. This makes our reports on WSB Radio and TV much more meaningful. One change we have noticed over the past few months has been how much of the roadway responders block.

One summer afternoon, a ten-car wreck shut down I-75/southbound south of Northside Drive. HERO units had dozens of cones tapering back from the crash scene, to the Howell Mill Road exit ramp, where they forced traffic off of the freeway. But once the crew at the crash painstakingly dragged the cars one-by-one off to the right, the HERO operators had to spend several agonizing minutes picking up the litany of cones. For many reasons, the closure lasted over an hour, but the number of cones confused us.

Since then, the WSB Traffic Team and I have noticed crashes taking longer to clear and a bigger emphasis on putting traffic cones out a certain distance behind the crash. I reached out to GDOT to see if their procedures have changed.

“The HERO unit has been continuing to heavily focus on training for our operators and ensuring that correct traffic control is deployed to protect both themselves and additional arriving agencies during an incident,” HERO Manager Jason Josey said via email. “These incidents may end up being small scale, however, HERO operators have to make a very quick initial scene assessment which dictates their response and traffic control deployed.”

Long story short, HERO operators make the final call on how many cones they use and how far back they deploy them.

Josey said that several factors go into these decisions. First, HERO operators consider which part of the highway a crash is located. For example, crashes on a narrow left shoulder are far more dangerous than ones on a wider right shoulder or exit ramp. Operators also note the speed of oncoming traffic and the physical features of the highway, such as hills or curves.

Arguably the biggest determinant in how much traffic control a HERO operator puts in place is simply the severity of the incident. “Severity, from an operator’s perspective, is based on scene assessment, motorist complaints of injury and other characteristics that may not readily show to the eyes of the general motoring public,” Josey explained. There have been more severe incidents of late, Josey said, which prompt these bigger traffic configurations.

One increasing danger for HERO operators is distracted driving - vehicles are hitting HERO trucks and sometimes operators more often. Logically, this would lead one to believe that this is why we are seeing more cones at traffic wrecks. Yes and no.

“What we stress is immediate and sustained deployment. Yes, distracted drivers have become more of an issue, but that and HERO strikes are not our sole reasoning for our more aggressive approach,” Josey clarified. “For the HERO unit, they treat their training as paramount. So, although no procedures have been changed as of late, what you may be seeing is a continued focus on the details for proper traffic control deployment to keep themselves and other first responders safe.”

As motorists or traffic reporters, we are seeing more intricate setups at scenes of traffic crashes. But the procedures or rules, GDOT says, haven’t changed. Instead, they are training their operators to make more cautious decisions and pay even closer attention to their training. As we take this into account, we also need to our part and drive safely around them.