I recently came across this video of a vehicle collision taking place on a highway somewhere in North America. Although there are no fire apparatus involved, it falls in line with our recent focus on driving while responding to calls.
The highway was covered with fresh snow and ice and someone used a video camera to record their drive. Just ahead of the video operator, the driver of a black SUV tries to pass slower moving vehicle and in the process starts to lose control of the vehicle. The results are devastating to watch and certainly could have been avoided.
Despite this first video not involving a fire apparatus, we can glean some basic principles of driving under these conditions. Rest assured, the apparatus were dispatched shortly after the video ends in the same driving conditions.
The next video is of a fire truck responding to a motor vehicle collision. The scene is near the bottom of an ice-covered hill. This video is older but factors like road conditions, and vehicle weight and stopping distance are as relevant now as they were then. The fire apparatus ends up becoming part of the problem rather than its solution.
Pay close attention to the female pedestrian at the bottom of the screen. As we’ve seen before, spectators don’t always respect the level of danger they find themselves in.
No matter where we are in North America, we will encounter adverse weather conditions. For some it will be snow and ice and for others it may be heavy rains and high winds.
Driving when the weather is bad is going to put us on the defensive right away. We will take our time, be cautious and diligent operators.
But how about driving in the good weather? When it’s the first sunny day of the year and we have been experiencing a spell of bad weather, are we still on the defensive?
It is easy, but dangerous, to be lulled into degrees of complacency when conditions are ideal. Don’t allow your own inattentiveness to be the driving hazard.
When we respond to a call and are not driving to the conditions, we start a chain of events of what can possibly happen, which will be an accident of some sort. The results of this domino effect can sometimes be deadly.
If we named these dominos, they would be not slowing down; not braking far enough back when roads are icy, wet or snow covered; not taking turns at a wide enough angle with bad road conditions; or not having any experience in driving in bad weather.
Many of our modern fire apparatus are equipped with safety features to help us with our driving when faced with bad weather. Items such as anti-slip differential which give us more traction when starting from a complete stop, anti-lock braking system to aid with the apparatus coming to a complete stop when it starts to skid or slide under braking, or a drop down chain system designed to give the apparatus more traction on slippery surfaces.
Another item to be mindful of is the exhaust, or engine, brake that most fire apparatus are equipped with. In slippery conditions, it is advisable to turn the engine or exhaust brakes off. When applied at a certain speed on slick roads, these brakes can send the apparatus into a tailspin.
When we initiate or become part of the response problem, we handicap ourselves from being fully effective, which is what we were called for in the first place. Not driving to the weather conditions can be hazardous to the crew on board as well the public around us.
Taking our time, slowing down, being mindful of the road conditions, and knowing how the apparatus responds to our driving operation are all steps that can be taken to avoid the handicap.
