SJ277: National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management; Secretary of Public Safety to establish.


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 277
Requesting the Secretary of Public Safety to establish a Statewide Traffic Incident Management Committee to coordinate the adoption and implementation of the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management. Report.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, February 5, 2013
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 18, 2013
 

WHEREAS, national statistics show that traffic incidents account for one-quarter of all congestion on roadways in the United States; and

WHEREAS, statistics indicate that for every minute that a freeway travel lane is blocked during a peak travel period, four minutes of travel delay results after the incident is cleared; and

WHEREAS, national statistics show that 15 to 30 percent of the crashes on freeways are secondary to other incidents; and

WHEREAS, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that struck-by-vehicle incidents accounted for 322 fatalities in 2008, or six percent of all fatal occupational injuries, which includes fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agency personnel working at the scene of highway incidents; and

WHEREAS, the paramount objective in all highway incident mitigation efforts, protecting the safety of highway travelers and emergency response personnel, requires that fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agencies work together to achieve multidisciplinary safety and performance goals; and

WHEREAS, nationwide, traffic incident management efforts are credited with reducing annual delay by 129.5 million hours with an associated cost savings of $2.5 billion; and

WHEREAS, safe, quick clearance of highway incidents depends on strong, coordinated multiagency operations; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management has been developed through the efforts of the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition, a coalition of 24 national transportation, public safety, emergency responder, public safety communications, and private sector associations working together to improve traffic incident management in the United States by linking public safety and transportation communities to define, standardize, and advance the state of traffic incident management practice; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management has been endorsed by the American Automobile Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the American Traffic Safety Services Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association Emergency Responder Safety Institute, the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Fire Service Training Association, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the National Association of State EMS Officials, the National Emergency Number Association, and the Towing and Recovery Association of America; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management consists of three major goals (Responder Safety; Safe, Quick Clearance; and Prompt, Reliable, Interoperable Communications) and includes 18 strategies for achieving those goals; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management is a voluntary compliance goal intended to improve safety for incident response personnel; encourage safe, quick clearance and prompt, reliable communications; and thereby facilitate clearing incidents as quickly and safely as possible; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management encourages traffic incident management partnerships and programs, multidisciplinary National Incident Management System and traffic incident management training, goals for performance and progress, utilization of traffic incident management technology, effective traffic incident management policies, and awareness and education partnerships; and

WHEREAS, one action that fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agencies might prudently and productively undertake to improve coordinated incident response in the Commonwealth of Virginia is to adopt and implement the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management; and

WHEREAS, coordination of multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional resources responding to major emergencies cannot be left to voluntary cooperation alone; and

WHEREAS, representatives from the Department of State Police, Department of Transportation, and Department of Emergency Management lead or participate in over 60 local Traffic Incident Management (TIM) groups across the Commonwealth, which have provided an effective and logical way for the Statewide TIMs Committee to promulgate initiatives and provide guidance to local first responders; and

WHEREAS, it is through the local TIMs that the Statewide TIMs Committee has introduced or reinforced the National Unified Goals (NUG) concepts to local emergency response stakeholders and has also created a forum for all responding stakeholders to meet in nonemergency settings to discuss strategies, scene communications, and individual stakeholder procedures; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide TIMs Committee reached out to the Federal Highway Administration, which subsequently selected Virginia as one of the first states to pilot a multidisciplinary TIMs "train the trainer" course that emphasizes the application of NUG concepts in traffic incident management; and

WHEREAS, in June 2012, approximately 30 trainers from all first responder disciplines received this training and will begin to hold TIMs training for all first responders across the Commonwealth in January 2013; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide TIMs Committee created a Statewide Traffic Incident Management Manual that emphasizes the NUG concepts; once adopted, this manual will provide uniform classification of incident types and seriousness while defining the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders when responding to and mitigating incidents on the highways of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide TIMs Committee, in conjunction with local TIMs groups throughout the Commonwealth, has proven to be a productive and efficient method of managing and coordinating the important issue of traffic safety; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Secretary of Public Safety be requested to establish a Statewide Traffic Incident Management Committee to coordinate the adoption and implementation of the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management. In establishing the Statewide Traffic Incident Management Committee, the Secretary of Public Safety shall provide for the participation of the following officials or their designees: Superintendent of the State Police, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation, State Coordinator of the Department of Emergency Management, Executive Director of the Department of Fire Programs, Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services, Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, Executive Director of the Virginia Sheriffs' Association, President of the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads, President of the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, President of the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters, President of the Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators, President of the Virginia Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, and President of the Major Incident Heavy Recovery Operators Association.

The Secretary of Public Safety shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary and report of her progress in meeting the requests of this resolution no later than the first day of the 2014 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary and report shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 277
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Rules
on February 4, 2013)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Blevins)
Requesting the Secretary of Public Safety to establish a Statewide Traffic Incident Management Committee to coordinate the adoption and implementation of the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management. Report.

WHEREAS, national statistics show that traffic incidents account for one-quarter of all congestion on roadways in the United States; and

WHEREAS, statistics indicate that for every minute that a freeway travel lane is blocked during a peak travel period, four minutes of travel delay results after the incident is cleared; and

WHEREAS, national statistics show that 15 to 30 percent of the crashes on freeways are secondary to other incidents; and

WHEREAS, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that struck-by-vehicle incidents accounted for 322 fatalities in 2008, or six percent of all fatal occupational injuries, which includes fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agency personnel working at the scene of highway incidents; and

WHEREAS, the paramount objective in all highway incident mitigation efforts, protecting the safety of highway travelers and emergency response personnel, requires that fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agencies work together to achieve multidisciplinary safety and performance goals; and

WHEREAS, nationwide, traffic incident management efforts are credited with reducing annual delay by 129.5 million hours with an associated cost savings of $2.5 billion; and

WHEREAS, safe, quick clearance of highway incidents depends on strong, coordinated multiagency operations; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management has been developed through the efforts of the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition, a coalition of 24 national transportation, public safety, emergency responder, public safety communications, and private sector associations working together to improve traffic incident management in the United States by linking public safety and transportation communities to define, standardize, and advance the state of traffic incident management practice; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management has been endorsed by the American Automobile Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the American Traffic Safety Services Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association Emergency Responder Safety Institute, the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Fire Service Training Association, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the National Association of State EMS Officials, the National Emergency Number Association, and the Towing and Recovery Association of America; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management consists of three major goals (Responder Safety; Safe, Quick Clearance; and Prompt, Reliable, Interoperable Communications) and includes 18 strategies for achieving those goals; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management is a voluntary compliance goal intended to improve safety for incident response personnel; encourage safe, quick clearance and prompt, reliable communications; and thereby facilitate clearing incidents as quickly and safely as possible; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management encourages traffic incident management partnerships and programs, multidisciplinary National Incident Management System and traffic incident management training, goals for performance and progress, utilization of traffic incident management technology, effective traffic incident management policies, and awareness and education partnerships; and

WHEREAS, one action that fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agencies might prudently and productively undertake to improve coordinated incident response in the Commonwealth of Virginia is to adopt and implement the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management; and

WHEREAS, coordination of multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional resources responding to major emergencies cannot be left to voluntary cooperation alone; and

WHEREAS, representatives from the Department of State Police, Department of Transportation, and Department of Emergency Management lead or participate in over 60 local Traffic Incident Management (TIM) groups across the Commonwealth, which have provided an effective and logical way for the Statewide TIMs Committee to promulgate initiatives and provide guidance to local first responders; and

WHEREAS, it is through the local TIMs that the Statewide TIMs Committee has introduced or reinforced the National Unified Goals (NUG) concepts to local emergency response stakeholders and has also created a forum for all responding stakeholders to meet in nonemergency settings to discuss strategies, scene communications, and individual stakeholder procedures; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide TIMs Committee reached out to the Federal Highway Administration, which subsequently selected Virginia as one of the first states to pilot a multidisciplinary TIMs "train the trainer" course that emphasizes the application of NUG concepts in traffic incident management; and

WHEREAS, in June 2012, approximately 30 trainers from all first responder disciplines received this training and will begin to hold TIMs training for all first responders across the Commonwealth in January 2013; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide TIMs Committee created a Statewide Traffic Incident Management Manual that emphasizes the NUG concepts; once adopted, this manual will provide uniform classification of incident types and seriousness while defining the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders when responding to and mitigating incidents on the highways of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide TIMs Committee, in conjunction with local TIMs groups throughout the Commonwealth, has proven to be a productive and efficient method of managing and coordinating the important issue of traffic safety; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Secretary of Public Safety be requested to establish a Statewide Traffic Incident Management Committee to coordinate the adoption and implementation of the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management. In establishing the Statewide Traffic Incident Management Committee, the Secretary of Public Safety shall provide for the participation of the following officials or their designees: Superintendent of the State Police, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation, State Coordinator of the Department of Emergency Management, Executive Director of the Department of Fire Programs, Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services, Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, Executive Director of the Virginia Sheriffs' Association, President of the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads, President of the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, President of the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters, President of the Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators, President of the Virginia Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, and President of the Major Incident Heavy Recovery Operators Association.

The Secretary of Public Safety shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary and report of her progress in meeting the requests of this resolution no later than the first day of the 2014 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary and report shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 277

Offered January 9, 2013
Prefiled December 20, 2012
Requesting the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety to coordinate the adoption and implementation of the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management. Report.
Patron-- Blevins

Referred to Committee on Rules

WHEREAS, national statistics show that traffic incidents account for one-quarter of all congestion on U.S. roadways; and

WHEREAS, statistics indicate that for every minute that a freeway travel lane is blocked during a peak travel period, four minutes of travel delay results after the incident is cleared; and

WHEREAS, national statistics show that 15 to 30 percent of the crashes on freeways are secondary to other incidents; and

WHEREAS, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that struck-by-vehicle incidents accounted for 322 fatalities in 2008, or six percent of all fatal occupational injuries, which includes fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agency personnel working at the scene of highway incidents; and

WHEREAS, the paramount objective in all highway incident mitigation efforts, protecting the safety of highway travelers and emergency response personnel, requires that fire, emergency medical services, law-enforcement, and transportation agencies work together to achieve multidisciplinary safety and performance goals; and

WHEREAS, nationwide, traffic incident management efforts are credited with reducing annual delay by 129.5 million hours with an associated cost savings of $2.5 billion; and

WHEREAS, safe, quick clearance of highway incidents depends on strong, coordinated multiagency operations; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management has been developed through the efforts of the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition, a coalition of 24 national transportation, public safety, emergency responder, public safety communications, and private sector associations working together to improve traffic incident management in the United States by linking public safety and transportation communities to define, standardize, and advance the state of traffic incident management practice; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management has been endorsed by the American Automobile Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the American Traffic Safety Services Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association Emergency Responder Safety Institute, the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Fire Service Training Association, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the National Association of State EMS Officials, the National Emergency Number Association, and the Towing and Recovery Association of America; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management consists of three major goals: Responder Safety; Safe, Quick Clearance; and Prompt, Reliable, Interoperable Communications, and includes 18 strategies for achieving those goals; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management is a voluntary compliance goal intended to improve safety for incident response personnel; encourage safe, quick clearance and prompt, reliable communications; and thereby facilitate clearing incidents as quickly and safely as possible; and

WHEREAS, the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management encourages traffic incident management partnerships and programs, multidisciplinary National Incident Management System and traffic incident management training, goals for performance and progress, utilization of traffic incident management technology, effective traffic incident management policies, and awareness and education partnerships; and

WHEREAS, one action that fire, emergency medical service, law-enforcement, and transportation agencies might prudently and productively undertake to improve coordinated incident response in the Commonwealth of Virginia is to adopt and implement the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management; and

WHEREAS, coordination of multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional resources responding to major emergencies cannot be left to voluntary cooperation alone; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety be requested to coordinate the adoption and implementation of the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management with representatives of the Department of Emergency Management, the Department of Fire Programs, the Department of State Police, the Department of Transportation, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Office of Emergency Medical Services, the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters, the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads, the Virginia Association of Governmental EMS Administrators, the Virginia Fire Services Board, the Virginia Sheriff Association, the Virginia State Firefighters Association, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators.

The Virginia Secretary of Public Safety shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary and report of its progress in meeting the requests of this resolution no later than the first day of the 2014 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary and report shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.