Traffic Safety: Know your responsibilities

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Vernon Cunningham
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Mr. Jones woke up earlier than usual for a very important day. A newly-single parent, he looked forward to the challenge of making breakfast for his daughter and sending her off to the bus stop across the street on time for the first day of school. Having fed her and filled her brand new backpack with school supplies, Mr. Jones kissed his daughter and watched her leave with 10 minutes to go and only a three-minute walk to overcome. Watching his daughter enter the crosswalk on her way to start seventh grade was one of the proudest moments of his.....

Screeeeech! Silence.

According to Census.gov transportation statistics, more than 23,000 children between the ages of 5 and 15 were injured and nearly 250 more were killed when they were struck while walking or bicycling in a school zone. This represented 25 percent of all children's traffic fatalities and 15 percent of all children's traffic injuries.

Shareen Youngs, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson parent, said drivers need to ensure they are being as vigilant as possible when approaching a school zone.

"With school starting, there will be a lot more kids on the sides of the road and crossing the streets," Youngs said. "Not every kid looks both ways before crossing. It is ultimately the adults' responsibility for our children's safety. Whether we are walking their children to school or driving on the road, we are responsible."

One way of maintaining awareness and safety standards while operating a motor vehicle is to know your responsibilities as a driver.

JBER's Safety Office provides information, year round, to remind drivers of the rules outlined in Air Force Instruction 91-207, U.S. Air Force Traffic Safety Program.

Some of the reminders are intended to combat operator distractions. They address how the use of headphones, earphones or cellular telephones hinder the recognition of emergency signals, alarms, announcements, and the ability to determine the direction from which sounds are coming.

In addition, all persons operating a vehicle on a Department of Defense installation are prohibited from text messaging while driving. The AFI states that listening to cell phones, any listening device or other hand-held electronic device takes attention away from driving and is discouraged unless the vehicle is safely parked.

Beside distractions, fatigue can also play a factor in traffic accidents.

The 'duty-related operator driving time' section of AFI 91-207 addresses duty hour limits. Drivers must know and obey the command-directed limitations to help reduce the potential for mishaps caused by vehicle operators being too tired to stay alert.

Besides protecting everyone outside of the vehicle, drivers have a responsibility to those who ride inside as well.

One message that is pushed continuously to service members by the Safety Office, and a lot of state laws, is that occupants of a vehicle must wear seatbelts if they were installed in the vehicle.

Seat belts, child restraint systems or booster seats need to be properly installed and used, per the AFI. Child restraint seat systems and booster seats should be placed in the back seat and center of vehicle when possible.

The Anchorage Fired Department offers a service to help with installing child car seats.
"Nine out of 10 seats that we check, there's something wrong," said Travis Reier, firefighter and car seat installation instructor at AFD station 1. "It may be minor; it may be major. That's not an exaggeration - nine out of 10. Sometimes it's eight, sometimes it's more - and that's just among the people who care enough to come in and get it checked. "

Other bits of information delivered by the Safety Office to protect people in the vehicle and drivers cover the motorcycle program, requirements for all-terrain vehicle operation, protective clothing, foot-gear requirements, and other data that should be reviewed to increase the safety of the operator. All of these rules and more can be found in AFI 91-207.

Although traffic safety relies heavily on vehicle operators recognizing their responsibilities, the pedestrians and bicyclers also have a role outlined in the instruction.

Individuals are not authorized to jog, run, or walk on roadways with high traffic density and during peak traffic periods, which are determined by the installation commander. For formation runs or a running event, groups must have road guards or safety spotters. Running or walking with headphones is forbidden.

Also, personnel are required to wear clothing with retro-reflective properties or a retro-reflective accessory while jogging or running on roadways at night or inclement weather. They must also remember to wear a highly visible outer garment, vest or jacket during the day and retro-reflective outer garment or material at night when exposing themselves to traffic hazards.

The JBER Safety Office continuously distributes information and rules to protect drivers, passengers, and others who are exposed to traffic for one basic reason.

"Our ultimate goal is to keep the mission going by preventing mishaps," Tech. Sgt. Darren Morris, JBER Safety Office said. "When we have a mishap, it can cripple a unit. So, we are always trying to increase everyone's safety awareness and keep it in their minds."

Along with the outpour of flyers, slides and news articles, JBER Safety Office provides additional courses and training to help improve traffic safety. Most are required for service members at various points of their career. There is a class for first term airmen and new officers, motorcycle and ATV operators, driver improvement and rehabilitation, supervisor safety, local conditions, and others.

To take advantage of the Station 1 AFD Child Car Seat Installation Assistance service, call 907-267-5045 and leave a message. A fire fighter will call back to coordination assistance.