Slow down, move over and look out for first responders. That's the message from transportation officials as Monday kicks off National Crash Responder Safety Week.
This week is all about keeping our first responders safe. This includes firefighters, police officers, EMS staff, tow truck drivers and transportation workers.
When you see them on the side of the road, the law says to slow down and move over to give them the space they need to work and do their job safely.
"Ultimately, to just take a moment and think about those first responders. When you see those emergency lights, you see anyone on the side of the roadways, the law says to slow down. If you can, move over on multi-lane roadway to give them the space to work and go home to their loved ones," said CT DOT Traffic Incident Management Coordinator Aidan Neely.
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Officials say every year, there are more than 100,000 crashes on Connecticut's roadways.
Not knowing what to do when you approach a crash or traffic accident could cause a secondary crash and often puts first responders' lives at risk.
"Every one of those losses is a family mourning and a family having to cope, cope with not having that loved one, especially the holiday season, it's even more hard hitting," Neely said.
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He says he'll be thinking about Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, DOT worker Andrew Didomenico and construction worker Jose Diaz Nieves who lost their lives this year while trying to do their job.
"Want to make sure that people are just looking out for each other on the roadway and then being patient. You know this, there's traffic, we know that, but working on trying to clear those incidences as quickly as possible and as safely as possible, for knowing the traveling public, for those responders out there," Neely said.
