Fast Facts: Protecting Emergency Workers from Secondary Crashes

It happens every day. You’re driving along and you see flashing lights on the shoulder of the road. You can’t help but look—our eyes are biologically and evolutionarily drawn to light and movement.

But that’s enough to distract you from the road ahead, and sometimes it’s enough to be fatal for the driver or others along the road. And sometimes, despite our best intentions, a first responder—police officers, emergency medical technicians, and others—is still at risk every time he or she tries to help someone in distress on the road.

Additional Resources

Effects of Emergency Vehicle Lighting on Drivers, Emergency Responder Safety Institute, January 2022.

Move Over: It’s the Law, U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration