Nearly 200 responders gather in Syracuse for traffic safety training

A lane blocked on Interstate 81 can turn into a backup fast, and nearly 200 responders gathered at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse to practice the tactics meant to clear crashes sooner and keep a second wreck from making matters worse.

The free, all-day Traffic Incident Management Symposium brought together first responders from across New York to focus on roadway safety and multi-agency coordination. The goal, as the state describes it, is to coordinate partner agencies and private-sector companies so they can detect, respond to and clear traffic incidents as quickly as possible while protecting the responders on scene and the traveling public.

That work has become a standing part of New York’s traffic safety playbook. The state’s TIM program is supported by agencies and organizations including the New York State Police, the New York State Thruway Authority, emergency management, fire organizations, tow operators, AAA, the Empire State Towing and Recovery Association and the Federal Highway Administration’s New York Division. A steering committee formed after the state committed in 2008 to formalizing the program, and its first organizational meeting was held in Albany in March 2009. The committee now meets on a bi-monthly basis.

The training itself is based on the Federal Highway Administration’s national SHRP2 responder course, but it is tailored to New York conditions and New York responders. Fire service leaders say more than 10,000 responders statewide have taken the class since 2013, and they say the hands-on instruction helps reduce secondary crashes, the extra collisions that can follow an initial incident and make a bad traffic jam much worse.

In Syracuse and Onondaga County, the message carries added weight because of the Move Over law and the memory behind it. The law took effect Jan. 1, 2012, after legislation signed in 2011, and it requires drivers to move over when possible or slow down for stopped emergency or hazard vehicles, including amber-light crews such as NYSDOT workers and HELP trucks. Penalties can include fines of up to $275, an $85 surcharge, up to 15 days in jail and three points on a driver’s record.

The law is named in part for Onondaga County Sheriff Deputy Glenn M. Searles, who died on Nov. 29, 2003 after being struck while helping a stranded vehicle on Interstate 481. It also honors state Trooper Robert W. Ambrose, who died on Dec. 19, 2002.

The symposium came as Syracuse is in the middle of the Interstate 81 Viaduct Project, which NYSDOT calls a once-in-a-generation transformation of the city. As that project advances, the need for faster scene clearance, tighter coordination and safer work zones is only becoming more immediate on the roads Central New Yorkers use every day.