give em the sign.........

[PBFD 521]

While this is a traffic safety forum I will throw this one out there...interstates are deadly on our emergency services,moons wants to slow down or be inconvienenced and traffic whizzing by at mach1 isn't my idea of a fun time,so I decided to be proactive and purchased a message board sign to mount on a multi purpose truck. The truck is 3rd out to all mva's and will park 1/4 to1/2miles behind the scene to alert motorists that something is going on ahead,so far the sign has worked perfectly,while it doesn't end the danger it does give the aproaching dumbs**s something to read.the truck is equipped with a police radar to slow vehicles with radar detectors down before and it is capable of pre-programmed messages or as can make our own if needed. The sign isn't cheap by any means but is alot cheaper than a funeral. So far everytime we have used this truck it has proven to slow vehicles down at least some and I feel it is a worthwhile investment to keep my people safe and if that isn't working I will not hesitate to shut the entire interstate down completly until we are done with the scene. If anyone would like pictures or more information you can email me at [email protected] and I will gladley provide them to you.keeping our brothers safe is what we should all strive for.

[DFDMAXX]

It has been my experience that all the typical signs and reminders only go so far.

People are in too much of a hurry or after 1/2 mile are accelerating up to normal speed out of habit.

I've seen to many close calls while working road construction. No matter how many signs, flashy lights, flaggers, barrels, and trucks some people just don't obey.

Same with an emergency scene, which is not as well marked or set up as we have to do that on the fly. Hence the habit of blocking the scene with a really big red truck.

All the signs that say emergency scene ahead, single lane, flagger ahead, speed limit 15mph, etc do only so much. The one that works: DUI CHECKPOINT AHEAD. It really does hold their attention

[Atlanta802]

The one that works: DUI CHECKPOINT AHEAD. It really does hold their attention

Very clever! I bet that will slow them down haha. This has nothing to do with the post but I believe it was in Texas a couple of years ago someone hacked into a construction advisory display sign and I believe it read something like "Caution Nazi Zombies Ahead", and that had motorists slowed almost to a crawl. I guess its just something that just grabs attention lol.

[pasobuff]

There was actually a zombie message recently......like in the last week or two....

Back to the topic at hand....

Personally, I think people are becoming more aware of things out on the road - and the responsible drivers will want to do the right thing and slow down/move over. Just this evening on my way from DC to VA, I was approaching a PD unit with a vehicle pulled over.....not only did the vehicle in front of me pull over, but also SLOWED DOWN to about 5mph under the speed limit....(as did I).....

Part of the problem that I see on the roads is when someone comes up on an incident with little/no warning, and then has nowhere to go, or very little time to try to move over....I would prefer to have that advance warning to allow me to start making plans and checking traffic to make sure a safe move can be made.