Our job, here at Priceville Fire Department, is to help the community.  Now, we are asking for some help from the community.  Lately, we have had a rash of incidents where people have run over our fire hoses.  It doesn't matter, whether big or small, filled with water or empty, PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE OVER OUR FIRE HOSES!  You will need to find another path around our hose... otherwise you are stuck where you are located until we are done.

To give an example, we recently had a house fire where three sections of our hose were run over.  The hose itself can cost around $700 per section ($2100 possibly ruined after this fire).  Even if the hose doesn't appear to be damaged, we still have to send it out to be inspected (more $$$) to ensure it won't rupture on us in the future.  If you do run our hose over, it is likely we will be asking for your insurance information to bill you for the damages (maybe for a brand-new hose if it damaged beyond reasonable repair).  Another way you can be charged for damages is via a police citation.  A ticket, with court costs, can run near $200.  Finally, if that is not convincing enough, there is a possibility you could injure, or even kill, our teams fighting the fire if you rupture the hose as that water is what keeps them alive inside of a fire.


Here is an analogy that can put this into perspective:  While driving our fire trucks we run into your car.  Do you forgive us and not ask us to pay to fix your car?  Unless you are the nicest millionaire on earth, the likely answer is going to be "No!"  You rely on the car to fulfill some function for you and you weren't the cause of its damage.  The same philosophy goes for us.  If you run over the hose, you can possibly damage it... this can hurt firefighters... it will take the hose out of service until it can be tested... this leaves a truck short of hose to help someone in the event of a fire... and it would have cost us money we should put into serving you, the community, in a better way.


If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Below are the links to the Alabama Driver's Handbook and the the state law about not driving over a fire hose.  Thanks, in advance, for your assistance, and please be safe out there!


Driver's Handbook (link to .pdf file) (.pdf file page 67, book page 65)
FOLLOWING EMERGENCY VEHICLES
Only vehicles on necessary official business are permitted to follow within 500 feet of emergency vehicles on an emergency run. Don’t drive over an unprotected fire hose unless authorized to do so by a police officer or fire department official.

Alabama State Law (Section 32-5A-59)
Crossing fire hose.
No vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected hose of a fire department when laid down on any street, private road or driveway to be used at any fire or alarm of fire, without the consent of the fire department official or police officer in command.

(Acts 1980, No. 80-434, p. 604, §11-110.)

I believe we are all guilty of doing it... being distracted while driving.  How many of us eat, check out cars next to us, talk on our phones, or even worse, text while driving?  How many times have you been driving down the road and wondered "What in the world is that car in front of me doing?" as they weave in their lane or go 10 mph under the speed limit?  You pass them only to see the driver running their mouth on the cell phone or trying to read a text message.  All of these extra things we do distract us from our primary job: safely operating a motor vehicle. 

They say that driving while texting while driving is the same impairment as driving when you have had two alcoholic beverages.  How many of you would feel comfortable driving or being on the road with someone who has had two or more drinks?  Think of all the things you can miss in the time it takes for you to read a text message.  You might justify it to yourself that you only look away for a couple seconds.  Then I pose to you this: How many times have you stopped with only inches to spare?  How many times have you caught that other car trying to change lanes into you out of the corner of your eye?  How many times were you lucky to notice that piece of trash in the road and avoid it?  Realize, when you are going 60 mph, you are traveling 88 feet per second.  After two seconds (you know, the time you felt comfortable looking away from the road to the phone) you would have gone 176 feet.  It looks like you aren't going to miss anything by inches when you look away for a "couple seconds".

The moral of the story is the Priceville Fire Department responds to many car accidents.  Many of which are caused by distracted driving.  Click on the picture above for a two minute video.  It shows bus drivers texting while driving.  Would you want them driving you or your kids anywhere?  However, how many of you do it with your families in the car?  Arrive alive!

Distractions are the number 1 cause of the car accidents we see.  From people messing with their car stereo, sending a text message, talking on their cell phones, to being in a heated rush to get nowhere, they all prevent you from doing the most important thing: driving safely.  I am sure everyone will nod their head to this and say they know, but you need to focus on the road and nothing else.  If a distraction comes up, don't be afraid to pull over and handle it.  You can then continue to drive uninhibited. 

Peer pressure can be an effective tool to discourage unsafe acts (not only while driving as it can be applied to drugs, alcohol, other life-altering decisions).  We are all willing to speak-up when small stuff occurs like when the cashier gives us incorrect change in a store, in a restaurant when our food isn't prepared correctly, or in school when we feel we are getting an unsatisfactory grade.  Why should it be any different when you see an UNSAFE act?  Click on the picture to the left to see a video from Speakuporelse.com.  Although a humorous approach to the issue, it demonstrates how one person can make a difference (the  Speakuporelse.com website has four videos with a similar message).  When you are done, click on the picture below and pledge yourself to speak-up against reckless driving.  It only takes ONE voice to make the difference.

Lately, driving around town, one can notice more children looking at you through the back window, or standing up, leaning between the front seats.  Trying to get the parent’s attention usually yields in dirty looks or other gestures of thanks.  Whether it is a trip from home to New York or from your house to the grocery store, all children need to be wearing a restraint while riding in a vehicle. 

I remember being a small child riding around in the back of my father’s pickup.  I also remember riding in my uncle’s muscle car and the seat belts were there “for decoration”.  It wasn't too long ago when mothers would carry their babies on their laps as the family went on an outing.  Times have changed, laws are becoming more stringent, and cars are becoming safer.  Children, however, are still dying due to not being properly restrained in a vehicle.

The Department of Transportation has statistics on highway fatalities.  Using their Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), you can narrow down statistics using their “Query” feature.  Alabama, in 2007, had 193 motor vehicle fatalities for those under the age of 15*.  Of those, 94 children were reported to not have been properly restrained.  In 2006, out of 227 fatalities, there were 126 unrestrained children.  In 2005, they comprised 86 of the 206 fatalities.  If you think about it, nearly HALF of those deaths may have been prevented had the children been restrained.  That is 306 children who might be alive if they had been wearing a seat belt or in a car seat.  That is also 306 drivers who thought it would never happen to them.

Here is the law as stated by Act 2006-623 effective July 1, 2006:
"(1) Infant only seats and convertible seats used in the rear facing position for infants until at least one year of age or 20 pounds.

"(2) Convertible seats in the forward position or forward facing seats until the child is at least five years of age or 40 pounds.

"(3) Booster seats until the child is six years of age.

"(4) Seat belts until 15 years of age."

It is also recommended to keep children in the back seat until the age of 12.  It is believed the air bag can do more harm than good for a child in the front seat.  This is why there is an airbag disable feature in some pickups.  Remember, Parents, you should wear your seat belts.  Children learn from the examples you provide.

If you, or someone you know, cannot afford a car seat, you might qualify for a free one through the Alabama Head Injury Foundation.  You can contact them at 1-800-823-3818.  For advice regarding car seat installation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website has good information regarding the LATCH system now required on car seats.

There is one more key thing- if you are ever involved in a serious car accident, you should replace the car seat.  Regardless if the seat looks good to you, the seat did its job in protecting your child once, but there is no guarantee it will perform as admirably a second time.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a list of criteria you can use to determine if the accident you were in warrants the need to dispose of a car seat.  If you are worried about who will pick up the bill for a new seat, you should verify with your insurance agent that the replacement of a car seat is included during reparations for the accident.

 *The age of 15 was used in the statistics because that is where the Child Restraint Law ends.  No, it doesn’t mean those of us over the age of 16 are not required to wear a seat belt.  It just means that law viewed those up to, and including, the age of 15, as children.  The rest of the values used in the queries were Alabama, ages 0-15, and restraint system-use of “None Used”.  There may be detractors because “None Used” also encompasses those not killed in a motor vehicle but killed as a result of a motor vehicle.

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