Why we get the hell off of highways....

A point I made in Field Training my rookies was if you have an accident or other incident on a highway, you get the hell out of there. Unless there is a reason to stay (e.g. waiting on an ambulance) you simply grab IDs from the drivers and move it off the road. Why? As I've said more than once, "It's an excellent place to get killed!"

I once had to explain to an idiot, err citizen, why I wasn't going to wait for his own tow truck. I told this....gentlemen, "I have four reasons, in order of priority:

1. I really don't want to get killed today and this is an excellent place for that to happen.

2. While we're out here people are looking at us and not paying attention to driving. This may cause another accident. BTY, this happened once when I was waiting on the side of I-10 in New Orleans back in 1996. Two people looking at the us and one rear ended the other.

3. While people are gawking at us this is slowing down traffic for miles.

4. Finally, you may also get injured out here."

With that as some background, here is an excellent video from Utah Highway Patrol on the hazards of being on the side of a highway.