Colorado Truckers Keep Watch
Suddenly, she slams into a wall of stinging sleet that plunges visibility to nearly zero. Knowing that less experienced drivers could easily find themselves in a heap on the side of the road in conditions like these, the trucker picks up her cellular phone and punches in the special Highway Watch number. She relays her observations to an operator. Within minutes state crews and police are responding and the public has been alerted by radio and television.
Colorado Highway Watch, launched Nov. 23 in Denver, attempts to make driving safer for everyone by enlisting truckers to be the eyes and ears of the open road. It puts participating truckers through half-day sessions that teach them what to look for and how to report the problems they encounter. Drivers are taught to immediately report emergencies by calling 911.
All other incidents — traffic problems, weather conditions, road rage, drunk driving or highway debris — are reported to a special Highway Watch number available only to truckers. Those calls are answered by operators at Airwatch, a private company, which relays the information to the appropriate state agency. The information also is broadcast over KOA Radio and other media outlets to alert the public. In some cases, truckers are put on to the air to report what they see.
“The response from our truck drivers thus far has been outstanding,” said Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carrier Assn.
CMCA, in partnership with a group of the state’s safest truckers, designed the program, but getting it carried out required a broad coalition of groups.
“There’s CMCA and the American Trucking Associations behind this thing, and we’ve also got all the wireless cellular companies,” said Mr. Fulton. “Jacor Communications, which is a group of the largest radio stations in the area, is participating. We’ve got Channel 9 television involved in this, and we’ve got Airwatch, which is the group that does the traffic reports from helicopters. Of course, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Colorado State Patrol are partners. It’s a cast of thousands, actually.”
The idea for Highway Watch emerged out of talks among CMCA, Airwatch and KOA. The most difficult time to get road information is when weather conditions are most dangerous — and that’s when the need to know is greatest. Instead, these organizations have been “left with this big hole of information about what’s going on out there,” Mr. Fulton said.
“In the past they have had motorists call in and tell them about conditions, but the average person has a problem because most people don’t really know in good geographic terms where they’re at.”
y using professional truck drivers who are intimately familiar with the roads and have sophisticated vehicle location devices, Highway Watch can deliver fast and accurate reports.
