A new study from the University of Iowa takes a closer look at the factors involved in emergency vehicle accidents. Professor Corinne Peek-Asa (Kor-rin Peek-A-suh) co-wrote the study and says they found police vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents when heading to a call. “For police vehicles, we did find that they have a higher crash risk when they are driving in lights and siren mode. But we didn’t find the same thing for ambulance and fire vehicles. Their crash risk wasn’t higher if they were in emergency mode,” Peek-Asa says.

She says the increased danger for accidents in police vehicles could be attributed to a couple of factors. “One big difference is that sometimes police are actually in pursuit, so they are not going to a scene,” Peek-Asa says. “But also, even their job at a scene is a little different. Police need to get there first and control the scene and make sure there’s no violence going on and that everyone at the scene is safe.” Peek-Asa says ambulances and fire trucks may be more recognizable to motorists as they speed to an emergency. “Most fire vehicles and ambulances, they look different than other cars. Whereas police vehicles have the lights and sirens, but are somewhat similar to the fleet of other vehicles on the road,” according to Peek-Asa.

She says he study shows how important it is for motorists to quickly recognize any type of emergency vehicle and get out of the way. “More often than not the vehicles that crashed with the emergency vehicle had contributing circumstances. More often than the emergency vehicle itself,” she says. Peek-Asa says emergency vehicle drivers have many distractions to deal with and motorists can help. “The most important thing is to –even if it is not in your lane -0- to pull over to the side so you are not a visual distraction to the emergency vehicle,” Peek-Asa says. “Even if it doesn’t seem like you are in the way, it is important for all vehicles on the road to pull over just so the emergency vehicle can see better and understand what movement is going on — they don’t have to worry about which direction you are going.”

There’s also some advice for those driving patrol cars. Peek-Asa says more accidents happen at intersections and in winter weather conditions. She says police should remember to stick with their intersection protocol, knowing that other motorists can often not be aware of what is happening. And she says police are often out helping people in on really bad snowy conditions, and this reinforces the need for police to be cautious in those conditions.

The study looked at crashes involving emergency vehicles in Iowa between 2005 and 2013.

(Radio Iowa)