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Firefighter Struck by Vehicle Discusses Accident

Guilford County

HIGH POINT - As High Point firefighters, Scott Stanley and his colleagues often are the first responders to arrive at the scene of an emergency.

Stanley recently got a reminder that the dangers at such scenes aren’t limited to fires. He was injured after being hit by a passing vehicle while responding to a traffic accident on Interstate 40 Business in western Guilford County Nov. 25. Stanely faces surgery to repair one of knees before he can return to work, but he expects to make a full recovery.

Stanley said his near miss illustrates a larger point: the importance of North Carolina’s “move over” law and the need for motorists to keep their eyes on the road rather than rubbernecking.

“I want to use this as an example to everyone that we as firemen need to pay attention and so do the motorists on the highway,” said Stanley, a firefighter for 12 years who has served the last three with High Point. “When they’re coming to the scene, it’s important to direct more of their attention to the guys that are out there working versus the accident.”

At the time of the accident, he was standing outside a fire truck that was partly in the roadway and partly in the highway median. The driver of an approaching car apparently didn’t see the truck until the last second and swerved to try to avoid it.

“When I looked up and saw him coming, I backed up against the truck as tight as I could, and he still clipped me. It knocked my coat off of me and my helmet and threw me under our fire truck,” Stanley said.

The driver was cited for failing to move over for an emergency vehicle. The law, enacted seven years ago, requires motorists to change lanes or slow down when passing a stopped emergency vehicle with flashing lights on the roadside. A violation carries a penalty of $300 in fines and fees.

“The Highway Patrol aggressively charges this move-over violation whenever we see it occur on the interstate or the roadways, but it just doesn’t seem to get people’s attention until someone is actually injured,” said patrol Sgt. Doug Garland. “I have heard people say it’s a poorly advertised law, but this is probably the most advertised law across the state of North Carolina, in my opinion. Statewide, we have troopers hit all the time on the shoulder of the roadway where somebody runs off the side of the road and slams into the back of a patrol car.”

Stanley, 30, says he could return to work by February. Other than his damaged knee and a badly swollen left foot, he came away unscathed. But he said he knows how close a call he had and hopes people will pay more attention to the “move over” law.

“A few inches a different direction and I probably wouldn’t be talking to you today,” he said. “I feel like when (the law) first came into effect, everybody kept abreast of it, but I think we’ve all just kind of forgotten about it.”

Primary Agency: High Point Fire Department

Source: Fire Engineering.com

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Posted on Wed Dec 10 2008 at 3:49

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