Getting the word out

East Whiteland emergency responders begin campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of responding to accidents on the turnpike

When 38-year-old David Good, volunteer firefighter with the Lionville Fire Co., responded to an accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on March 9, 1998, he expected that after the emergency, he would be returning to the fire station.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

As Good and other emergency responders were working the accident scene, a tractor trailer traveling westbound careened out of control, overturned and plowed into the emergency responders, killing Good, seriously injuring nine others and damaging emergency vehicles.

Last year, around this time, an ambulance from the East Whiteland Fire Association pulled up to an accident on the turnpike and was hit from behind.

“Fortunately, there were no injuries to the crew members or anyone else at the scene,” said Randy Cockerham, fire police lieutenant of the association.

Last year’s accident, along with the accident that killed Good 19 years ago, got Cockerham and his cousin Tom, fire police captain, thinking.

“When we get dispatched to an emergency — whether it be on the turnpike or Route 202 — we tense up,” said Cockerham. “It’s a chaotic time. We’ve got emergency personnel scrambling all over the place and, at the same time, we are spinning our heads keeping an eye on the traffic whizzing past us.”

Recently, the two cousins began a campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers that inattentive drivers pose to emergency personnel and highway workers.

The two have taken to Facebook and traditional media to spread their message.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), 84 highway workers have been killed in the line of duty since 1970. East Whiteland Fire Association responds to a variety of accidents

on Route 202 and the turnpike; these include emergencies such as car fires, tractor trailer fires, accidents with injuries, vehicle rescues, fluids on the highway, and medical emergencies.

When Cockerham and his cousin joined the East Whiteland Fire Association in 1972, highways dangers were a lesser issue.

“People drove slower,” recalls Cockerham. “There was less traffic and there were fewer distractions. The last five years have really

gotten worse, and not just around here. It’s a nationwide epidemic. People are rushing all over the place, without regard for what goes on around them. To them, concern for emergency responders and highway personnel are not foremost in their minds.”

The National Traffic Incident Management put out a list of dangerous “Ds” that afflict motorists: distractions, drink, drugs and drowsiness. Roadway safety is the focus of a course sponsored by the NTIM for emergency responders and highway workers, which are held at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission offices in Harrisburg.

PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA A Lionville firefighter monitors traffic at the tractor-trailer fire which shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 2016. East Whiteland emergency responders Randy Cockerham, and his cousin Tom Cockerham recently began a campaign to raise public...

SUBMITTED PHOTO – GIL COHEN Randy Cockerham, left, fire police lieutenant, and his cousin Tom Cockerham, fire police captain, East Whiteland Fire Association, recently launched a safety program to raise motorist awareness of highway workers and emergency responders.