Vehicular LODDs: A Reassessment

BY WARNER R. WINBORNE

Three years ago, I took a critical look at vehicular line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) ("Sizing Up Vehicle-Related LODDs," Fire Engineering, June 2009, 93-96). I suggested that those accusing firefighters of a culture of reckless, aggressive driving habits were focused on the spectacular yet isolated events of firefighter LODDs by vehicular causes and failed to see the millions of miles we drove without a fatal incident. Like the incident commander who develops tunnel vision on the fireground, those who asserted that ours is a dysfunctional culture of recklessness failed to look at the larger picture. As my article also showed, a look at the larger picture demonstrated a rate of vehicular fatality per mile nearly identical with that of civilian traffic. The data showed that "firefighters are no more reckless than civilians, even though we drive to a fire while they drive to work."

But that conclusion was based on data from a single year (2004) and on assumptions about the number of miles driven on an average fire call. Although the data supported that conclusion, were the data reliable? Did the data reflect general conditions, or were the data an aberration? Has the situation changed since 2004? Just like the incident commander who must reassess conditions to consider the effectiveness of his strategy and tactics, so we, too, must reassess vehicular LODDs to determine whether conditions have improved, have remained the same, or have deteriorated.