Thursday, November 14, 2019

Traffic Incident Responder Week


It's Traffic Incident Responder Week in Idaho and Idaho State Police, along with law enforcement partners and highway workers throughout the state are conducting patrols to help drivers understand the importance of Idaho's "Move Over" law.

"The situation has become dangerous especially with more people driving distracted by carious causes," said Trooper Tyler, who participated in the focused patrols.

ISP Troopers and deputies from the Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office made over 40 traffic stops during the campaign on Tuesday.  Trooper Tyler said some drivers admitted they simply didn't realize how dangerous it is for emergency and highway workers when drivers fail to move over as the law requires.

Governor Little announced this week as Traffic Incident Responder Week in Idaho. The goal is to encourage Idahoans to do their part to help responders stay safe as they work on emergencies and other incidents on Idaho's highways. 

Every year hundreds of emergency workers are injured or killed while working on our roadways.


  • 150 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed since 1999 after being struck along America's highways, according to the National Law Enforcement memorial Fund. 
  • An average of six to eight fire rescue and EMS workers are killed working in or near moving traffic each year according to the Emergency Responder Safety Institute. 
  • 191 motor vehicle towing workers were killed between 2011 and 2016, resulting in an annual rate of 42.0 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  
  • The death rate is 2.9 per 100,000 FTE's for all other industries. 
  • In Idaho, nine people were killed and over 200 injured in work zone related crashes in 2017. 


As of July 1, 2019, Idaho expanded the "Move Over" law requiring drivers to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles to include tow truck operators and highway incident response vehicles.