NIOSH • 1000 Frederick Lane, Morgantown, WV 26508 • 304-285-5916

FACE IT: Report Visual Extension

Officer Struck By a Motorhome While 

Establishing Temporary Traffic Control on 

Interstate—Tennessee

(NIOSH LEO 2016-01)
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Summary

• 25-year-old police officer was 

fatally injured when he was 

struck by a motorhome and 

dragged under the trailer it 

was pulling on a four-lane 

interstate highway.

• The officer had responded to 

a jackknifed and overturned 

pickup/trailer combination 

that was blocking an entrance 

ramp to the interstate 

northbound lanes.

Initial incident the officers responded to, looking 

southbound in the northbound lanes.

(Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Police Department.)
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Summary

• To assist with traffic control, 

the officer positioned his 

patrol unit south of the 

entrance ramp in lane three, 

and a Tennessee Department 

of Transportation help truck 

operator positioned his 

vehicle next to the patrol unit 

to block the shoulder and 

lane four.

The incident scene showing the position of the patrol unit 

and the help truck.

(Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Police Department.)
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Summary

• The officer and help truck operator 

were standing between their 

vehicles, when a motorhome pulling 

a trailer approached the scene in 

lane three (lane second from the 

right).

• The motorhome and trailer 

sideswiped the help truck and struck 

the officer. The officer was dragged 

underneath the trailer for 116 feet 

before the motor home came to a 

stop. He died at the scene.

Diagram of roadway where crash occurred.

(Not to Scale)
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Contributing Factors

• Motorhome driver did not slow down and merge left.

• Positioning of patrol unit.

• Law enforcement officer standing in partially open lane.

• Law enforcement officer looking away from oncoming traffic; 

discussing traffic control with help truck operator.

• Delay in updating dynamic message sign.
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Recommendations

• State, county, and municipal 

authorities should consider promoting 

public awareness campaigns to inform 

motorists of the risks that law 

enforcement officers face while 

operating along the roadside and of 

the need to follow “Move Over” laws. 

• Law enforcement officers and other 

emergency responders should identify 

and move to a safe area within an 

established temporary traffic control 

zone that minimizes their exposure to 

oncoming vehicle traffic and should 

maintain situational awareness. 

Recreation of motorist visibility; 900 feet 

south of crash site.

(Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Police Department.)
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Recommendations

• Law enforcement agencies should 

consider developing a standard 

operating procedure that includes 

guidance on how to properly establish 

a temporary traffic control plan, 

including advance warning and 

transition areas for highway/roadway 

emergency incidents. 

• Emergency responders should consider 

positioning patrol units and other 

emergency vehicles as they arrive onscene to maximize the protected work 

zone for the emergency responders. 

Example of temporary traffic control 

tapered lane closure for 

highway/roadway emergency incidents.

(Source: Wisconsin Department of Transportation 

Emergency Traffic Control

and Scene Management Guidelines [WisDOT 2014)
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Officer Struck By a 

Motorhome While 

Establishing Temporary 

Traffic Control on 

Interstate—Tennessee

(NIOSH LEO 2016-01)

Download the full report: NIOSH LEO 2016-01
9

Contact Us

Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation 

Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch

Division of Safety Research, NIOSH

1000 Frederick Lane, M/S 1808

Morgantown, West Virginia 26505-2888

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