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FD12 Unveils Vehicle Safety Equipment
10/05/09
For Immediate Release
Monday, Oct. 5, 2009
St. Tammany Fire District 12 near Covington today unveiled its latest project to help protect lives and taxpayer dollars.
Every vehicle at FD12, from ladder trucks to pickups, has been equipped with a DriveCam unit, a sort of “black box” that records activity inside and outside the vehicle. The dash-mounted devices are programmed to activate any time there is a sudden change in the vehicle’s movement – whether an abrupt acceleration or a rapid stop. The device is constantly recording, but when it is activated it stores data from eight seconds prior to the event through four seconds after the triggering event. It can also be activated manually if the driver needs data recorded.
“The DriveCam program has already had a noticeable effect in vehicle operations,” said Chief Darrell Guillot. “Firefighters are driving more carefully and we are capturing valuable information from fires and other incident scenes.”
When an incident occurs and the recorder stores data, the electronic file is automatically sent to the DriveCam monitoring center and then emailed to FD12 administrators the following day. The technology has numerous applications.”
“We are able to counsel and train drivers when they have less-than-perfect driving patterns,” said FD12 Deputy Chief Stephen Krentel. “And because our drivers are becoming more cautious, the wear and tear on tires and brakes for our vehicles is reduced, saving the taxpayers money.”
DriveCam also has other public safety benefits.
“An ongoing problem in fire service is the failure of drivers to get out of the way for firefighting equipment responding to a call for help,” Krentel said. “Our drivers can active the DriveCam units manually, recording the license plates and behavior of uncooperative motorists who are preventing us from responding quickly to an emergency. We can then turn over that information – complete with video proof – to law enforcement.”
Additionally, firefighters can turn on the units at fire scenes, capturing a record of emergencies for training and insurance purposes.
FD12 spent about $10,000 on the cameras, and pays an annual fee of $8,000 for monitoring by the DriveCam information center. Experts estimate the average cost of a collision involving an emergency response vehicle at about $13,000, so the prevention of even one traffic accident makes the cost worth the investment – and that doesn’t include the reduced costs of vehicle maintenance.
“The budgetary benefit of DriveCam units clearly outweighs the cost,” Guillot said. “As the first fire response agency to have DriveCam devices installed in every fleet vehicle, we are proud to have taken this step to enhance public safety and reduce unnecessary costs.”
For more information about Fire District 12, please visit http://www.fd12.org.
Media contact: James Hartman, 504.458.4600 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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