Responders learn about risks of newer cars

While advanced air-bag systems and hybrid cars have made vehicles safer and more cost-efficient for motorists, at an accident scene they present a risk to first responders.

What those risks are and how to reduce them was the topic of Tuesday's training session for first responders and others sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety at the Osage Community Centre.

"With hybrid cars and air-bag safety features becoming more common, it's essential that our first responders to crash sites know how to handle the potential dangers of undeployed air bags and high-voltage vehicle battery systems," said Bill Whitfield, Missouri Department of Transportation senior operations specialist.

MoDOT co-hosted Tuesday's event with Cape Girardeau police, fire and EMS teams. MoDOT will host nine other such events throughout the state, Whitfield said, educating about 1,800 first responders how to work safely with both.

At the Osage Community Centre, 170 attendees learned how to safely approach such vehicles at accident scenes from Dave Long, a nationally recognized safety expert on advanced air-bag systems and hybrid electric vehicles.

Long said the biggest danger with hybrid vehicles is their high voltage. Most hybrids today look like any other car model, he said, and first responders can avoid risk of electrical shock by knowing how to determine whether a car is a hybrid and how to approach it safely.

In addition, hybrids don't make noise when they are running, so first responders need to make sure the vehicle is turned off.

Likewise, new air-bag systems can pose a threat to first responders.

"Air bags don't deploy about 30 percent of the time," Long said. "So they need to know where they are and how not to deploy them."

Attendees saw how air bags deploy from a partial car model Long had in the classroom and viewed an actual Honda Civic Hybrid in the parking lot provided for study by Cape Girardeau Honda dealership.

carel@semissourian.com

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