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Question of the Quarter

What benefits and/or disadvantages have you discovered from patrolling a longer distance patrol beat as compared to a shorter distance patrol beat?

And along your patrol route what is the most common incident you encounter?

“The response time is greater in the long distance patrol beat. [The most common incident I encounter are] trucks that loose their chains, then spin out and private vehicles that spin out causing trucks behind them to loose momentum and loose their traction too. This occurs in steep uphill portions of the mountains during icy and snowy weather conditions.”

– Larry Calkins, Heavy Tow Operator, Colorado DOT

“The greater the distance to the tow the longer the ETA [estimated time of arrival]. The shorter ones can be more challenging trying to weave your way through traffic or backing down a shoulder to get to the disablement. Eisenhower and Vail pass during stormy winter conditions create a lot of spun out trucks and cars. We only remove the trucks from traffic for safety.”

– Kevin Erickson, Heavy Tow Operator, Colorado DOT

Back to Safe Highway Matters: Winter 2011

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