Incident Response Unit - sponsored by State Farm
Incident Response Unit - sponsored by State Farm
In an effort to reduce crashes and congestion, ADOT has developed a brand new team that will focus primarily on traffic incident management.
The Incident Response Unit sponsored by State Farm is helping boost safety by getting traffic moving sooner after crashes. The patrol provides vital services, which range from setting up traffic control to moving vehicles involved in minor crashes to removing debris – even changing a flat tire here and there.
The ADOT Incident Response Unit (IRU) began patrolling the Phoenix metro area on Oct. 1, 2019. This 14-member team is part of ADOT’s Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) and provides traffic control and other assistance at crash scenes. When not responding to traffic incidents, the team will perform minor highway maintenance tasks.
The ADOT Incident Response Unit sponsored by State Farm is on patrol Monday – Friday from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and performs on-call services overnights and on weekends.
The IRU replaces ADOT’s Arizona Local Emergency Response Team (ALERT), which operated out of ADOT’s Central Maintenance District and was staffed by employees who volunteered to be available for emergency calls.
IRU is different from ALERT because the new teams are mobile and dedicated full-time to traffic incident management. Previously, ALERT members would have to stop their highway maintenance work and return to their yard to pick up vehicles and equipment before responding to a crash.
The No. 1 goal for the team is to reduce crashes. To do that, the goal is to cut current response times by half. Once they arrive, they can make the scene safer for law enforcement and the traveling public.
Arizona motorists can learn more about the program, and provide feedback, at http://www.AssistPatrol.com. Motorists who are assisted by the patrol can also share their experiences on social media using the hashtag #AssistPatrol.