Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Inattentive drivers cause problems at Fort Belvoir

Inattentive drivers cause the bulk of accidents at Fort Belvoir, according to military police officials. Since January, Fort Belvoir Military Police have recorded 81 traffic accidents, according to Staff Sgt. Jeramie Barnes, the Traffic noncommissioned officer in charge, who says this number is not unusual.

Last year, the installation’s traffic accidents totaled 175.

“People on this installation do whatever they want to do, they don’t obey anything,” said Maj. Christopher Butler, director of Emergency Services. “They speed, they don’t care. They run stop signs, they don’t care. They will go around into oncoming traffic to go around a car in front of them that is going the speed limit. They ignore the crosswalks on Gunston Road ... everybody is on the cell phone, it’s just insane.”

And typically, this is the type of driving that leads to accidents.

So, is there any way to avoid an accident or lessen the instance of traffic accidents?

The Fort Belvoir Military Police offer a few suggestions to help avoid getting into an accident: obey the speed limit, don’t run the stop signs, pay attention to crosswalks, stop talking on cell phones, wear seat belts and pay attention.

But, if you do happen to get into an accident, the first suggestion by the military police is to stay put. Do not move vehicles so they can determine the exact events leading to the accident.

Second, and possibly most important, determine if there are any injuries.

“Make sure no one’s injured, first off,” said Barnes. “If you’re not injured yourself you should check others and make sure they’re not injured ... If people can let us know at the scene of an accident if there are any injuries, it’s going to let us know whether we’re going to have fire and [Emergency Medical Services] come out.”

Third, call the military police.

While waiting for the police to arrive, there are a few things people can do to help MPs and themselves. Ask any witnesses to stay in the area and then start gathering information, like names, addresses and insurance, to help save time and avoid confusion. But, there are also several things that can hinder the police investigation upon arrival.

“The one thing that I recommend is when they’re at the scene of a traffic accident don’t just jump on a cell phone straight to the insurance company and start handling business, because when we get there to do paperwork they’re too busy [talking] on their phone and it just causes us to be at the scene longer than we have to be,” Barnes said.

Upon arrival, traffic accident investigators will not assign fault and will check for the exact facts.

“Traffic accident investigators do not assign fault to a traffic accident. We are fact-finding not fault-finding. We will provide all of the facts of a traffic accident,” Barnes said.

For more information, or if you are in an accident, contact the military police at 703-805-3104.