Police officers urge drivers to pull over to prevent crashes

IOWA CITY, Iowa (CBS2/FOX28) — A new University of Iowa study has police officers on high alert, urging the public to practice safe driving, particularly when police are in emergency mode.

Data shows Iowa police officers are 1.8 times more likely to responding to an emergency as opposed to a non-emergency situation.

Rate of speed, road conditions, and lack of awareness are among key factors causing accidents, and in most cases, officers are not at fault.

"Generally, the vehicles that are involved in crashes with emergency vehicles were more often at fault than the emergency vehicle drivers themselves," said Corinne Peek-Asa, the associate director of research at the University's College of Public Health.

The goal for responding officers is to arrive quickly and safely in order to best serve the public.

A little cooperation from drivers can go a long way.

"When there is an emergency vehicle that we see or hear," said Peek-Asa of drivers on the road, "we need to immediately think about how we can pull over and not become a visual distraction or physical impediment to the emergency vehicle."

Decorated Iowa City police officer Andy Rich put it more simply: "Pull over to the right and stop. That's all you gotta do."

With police cruisers equipped with more gadgets and gizmos, the internal distractions can seem overwhelming.

External errors can prove costly, so most officers take a defensive approach when driving in emergency mode.

"Sometimes I prefer to run with sirens and lights off," said Rich, "because it's just safer and sometimes you can't get there any faster with them on."

For Cedar Rapids Police Sergeant Nick Nolte, he encourages all new hires to be aware of their surroundings.

"We need to make sure we're clearing our intersections," said Nolte, "and let general public know, 'Hey, we're in a hurry.' We just need to make sure everybody sees us so they have a chance to get out of the way so we can do our job."

Other emergency vehicles -- ambulances and fire trucks -- did not see an increase in crashes when in emergency mode.

Peek-Asa attributed the stagnant numbers to the size of the vehicles (fire trucks and ambulances are much larger) and the emergencies those vehicles are responding to.

"Sometimes the reasons police are in emergency mode is a little different, a little bit more critical," said Peek-Asa. "Are they in pursuit? Are they heading to a violent scene? Whereas an ambulance driving with a patient is going to have to be very cognizant of keeping the patient stable."

While police crashes happen, the incidents are relatively rare, especially when factoring in distance traveled.

In 2017, Cedar Rapids police drove more than one million miles combined, with only three crashes occurring in emergency mode.

Researchers said they hope to use this information to better understand why crashes happen in order to prevent them.