News & Notes Spring 2010
CALIFORNIA
California’s Bay Area FSP hosts a website for motorists to visit and share their comments about the FSP and its services. Motorists are invited to submit and/or view other comments left by assisted motorists. The website even highlights key terms in larger red font that express the importance of the service. Some phrases currently highlighted on the page include “it was like having an angel stopping by to help us,” “swiftly came to my aid and first made sure that I was emotionally okay” and “knowing that this service is available, I feel safer with my two little kids on the freeway.” See the page at http://www.fsp-bayarea.org/comments.htm.
CONNECTICUT
Great motorist comment: “I’m writing to provide my comments on the I-70 West Courtesy Patrol Program and to provide praise for Jason, who rescued us when our car broke down yesterday. Jason informed us that my car was sitting in a dangerous spot under a cliff that was known to have frequent falling rocks, and he quickly towed my car to safety in Silver Plume. Throughout our interaction with Jason, he was professional, courteous and friendly.” Provided by CDOT.
FLORIDA
Congratulations to Richard Roberts, a Florida Department of Transportation District Four Road Ranger, for his contribution in resolving a Silver Alert. A Silver Alert is similar to an AMBER Alert,but meant to broadcast vehicle information of a missing elderly person who suffers from irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties. Thanks to his hard work and cooperation with Transportation Management Center operators, Mr. Roberts was able to quickly locate the missing person and coordinate with the Florida Highway Patrol to return him home safely.
OOCEA launched a Road Ranger billboard safety campaign in mid-April. It focuses on changing lanes for safety, underscoring courtesy and safety. Several billboards will be scattered throughout the OOCEA system carrying the messages for a year. There are four different art pieces displayed.
ILLINOIS
On Chicago urban expressways, clearance times for major incidents, involving serious injuries and fatalities, have been reduced from four to six hours to less than two hours. A critical factor in this is the high level of experience among the Illinois Department of Transportation Minuteman personnel and professional equipment used. In order to aid state police, Emergency Traffic Patrol (ETP) maintains a Total Station survey instrument so that law enforcement may immediately begin accident reconstruction efforts without the need to drive their own instrumentation from long distances costing valuable time to the clearance efforts.
MICHIGAN
Michigan DOT’s Freeway Courtesy Patrol recently installed lit arrow boards on the tops of patrol vehicles to aid in traffic control during incidents requiring lane closures.