Highway Incident Safety: How to Avoid Becoming a Victim at Roadside Emergencies

Working on a highway is one of the most dangerous things we do, and it has nothing to do with fire. The threat is traffic. Vehicles driven by distracted, impaired, or inattentive motorists who barrel through emergency scenes at full speed because they are looking at their phone instead of the road. Struck-by incidents kill first responders every year, and many of these deaths are preventable with proper positioning, blocking, and scene management.

I have worked highway incidents for my entire career, and I have had close calls that still make my stomach turn. A car missing our blocking apparatus by inches at 60 miles per hour. A driver swerving into the shoulder where crews were working because they were rubbernecking at the scene. A tractor-trailer unable to stop in time and jackknifing just short of our work zone. These are not rare events. They happen constantly.

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Blocking Is Your Primary Protection

Your apparatus is the most effective safety tool you have at a highway incident. Proper blocking means positioning your apparatus between oncoming traffic and the work zone to create a physical barrier. The blocking apparatus should be angled so that if a vehicle strikes it, the apparatus is pushed away from the work zone rather than into it.

The general rule is to position the blocking apparatus at least 50 feet upstream of the work zone on surface streets and at least 100 to 150 feet upstream on highways. The faster the traffic speed, the greater the buffer zone needs to be. On a highway with a 65 mile per hour speed limit, a vehicle covers roughly 95 feet per second. A 150-foot buffer gives a distracted driver less than two seconds to react. That is not much, but it is better than nothing.

Angle your apparatus about 15 to 30 degrees toward the opposite lane. Turn the wheels away from the work zone so that if the apparatus is struck and pushed, it moves away from your people. If possible, use a secondary blocking vehicle upstream of the first to create a shadow zone.

Do not use your personal vehicle as a blocking apparatus. Your pickup truck is not going to stop or redirect a loaded tractor-trailer. Use the heaviest apparatus available. An engine company weighing 30 to 40 thousand pounds is your best option. If a ladder truck is available, even better.

Emergency Lighting Discipline

This might seem counterintuitive, but excessive emergency lighting at highway scenes can actually increase risk. Drivers fixate on bright lights, a phenomenon known as the moth effect, and steer toward the light source. This is why struck-by incidents often involve vehicles slamming directly into apparatus that has every light on the rig flashing.

The best practice is to minimize forward-facing emergency lights toward oncoming traffic. Use amber warning lights, which are more effective at conveying a slow-down message without causing fixation. Keep your headlights off on the traffic-facing side if possible, because headlights at night can blind approaching drivers and draw them toward the apparatus.

Use retroreflective cones or flares to create a taper upstream of the scene. This gives approaching drivers advance warning and a visual guide for lane changes. The earlier drivers know they need to change lanes, the safer the transition is.

High-Visibility Gear Is Not Optional

ANSI/ISEA 207 compliant high-visibility vests are required for anyone operating in or near traffic. Your turnout gear, no matter how much reflective trim it has, does not meet this standard by itself. Wear the vest over your gear. Wear it every time. It takes five seconds to put on, and it makes you visible at distances that give drivers a chance to react.

I know the vests are uncomfortable over turnout gear. I know they get in the way. I know nobody looks cool wearing a neon yellow vest over a smoke-stained coat. Wear it anyway. Looking cool does not matter if you are dead.

Crew Positioning on Scene

Situational awareness at highway incidents means constantly knowing where traffic is relative to your position. Never turn your back to traffic. Keep the apparatus between you and oncoming lanes whenever possible. Stay within the shadow zone created by your blocking apparatus.

If you must work on the traffic side of the scene, assign a dedicated spotter whose only job is to watch for approaching vehicles and warn the crew. This person should have no other task. They watch traffic. Period.

Minimize the number of personnel in the roadway. Not everyone needs to be out there. If the task requires two people, send two people. The other four should stay in the shadow zone until they are needed. Fewer people in the roadway means less exposure to the hazard.

When walking at a highway scene, be deliberate about your path. Do not wander. Do not cross active lanes unnecessarily. Move with purpose and move quickly. Every second you are in an unprotected lane is a second you are exposed.

Interstate and Divided Highway Considerations

On interstates and divided highways, consider the threat from both directions. Even though the incident is in one direction of travel, drivers on the opposite side may rubberneck and cross the median. I have seen it happen. Oncoming traffic on a divided highway is not always a non-factor.

Request law enforcement for traffic control as early as possible. Officers can slow traffic upstream, close lanes, and set up detours. But do not wait for them before establishing your own blocking. Get your apparatus in position immediately.

On multi-lane highways, be aware of vehicles moving between lanes to get past the scene. They may cut across lanes unpredictably. The lane next to your blocking apparatus is often the most dangerous because drivers squeeze through the gap at speed.

Night Operations

Highway incidents at night are exponentially more dangerous. Driver visibility is reduced. Impaired driving is more common. The contrast between darkness and emergency lighting creates visual confusion. Your dark-colored turnout gear makes you nearly invisible outside the cone of light.

At night, the moth effect is even stronger. Reduce forward-facing lights, increase upstream warning with flares or reflective devices, and wear your high-visibility vest without exception. If you have scene lighting available, point it at the work zone rather than at traffic. You want to illuminate the scene, not blind approaching drivers.

Move-Over Laws

Every state has some form of move-over law requiring drivers to change lanes or reduce speed when passing emergency vehicles. These laws exist because drivers were killing first responders, and they continue to be violated regularly because enforcement is inconsistent and awareness is low. Do not rely on the law to protect you. Assume that every approaching vehicle does not see you and will not move over. Position accordingly.

Every Highway Call Is a High-Risk Call

Treat every highway incident as the highest-risk call you run, because statistically, it might be. The car fire on the shoulder, the fender bender in the right lane, the single-vehicle off the road into the ditch. All of them put you in traffic, and all of them can get you killed. The fire itself is rarely the danger at a highway incident. The traffic is the danger. Respect it every single time.

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