NVFC Receives Grant from General Motors to Increase Responder Safety on the Roadways

November 15, 2022

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is excited to announce it has received a $125,000 grant from General Motors to help increase the safety of emergency personnel as they respond to the more than 14,000 roadway incidents that occur in the U.S. each day. This is the second year that General Motors has awarded a grant to the NVFC to positively impact the safety of responders and the general public on the roadways.

Fire departments in the U.S. responded to approximately 5.2 million roadway incidents in 2018, putting personnel in danger of being struck by passing vehicles as they work to save lives and provide quick clearance of accident scenes. Dozens of first responders are killed in struck-by incidents each year, and many more sustain serious or life-altering injuries. In addition, distracted driving is the cause of thousands of deaths on the roadways each year. Add to that the threat of on-scene injuries posed by alternative fuel vehicles if responders are not properly trained on their unique response needs.

With this funding, the NVFC will continue to educate the driving public on how to properly pass an emergency scene and the importance of avoiding distractions while driving as well as train responders on proper traffic incident management and electric vehicle incident response. This will be accomplished through three primary strategies:

  • The continuation of the NVFC’s slow down/move over campaign and the launch of a distracted driving public awareness campaign
  • Directing emergency responders to participate in free traffic incident management training
  • Developing a hands-on alternative fueled vehicle training for emergency responders

“We thank General Motors for their support of the NVFC and their commitment to increasing the safety of our responders on the roadways,” said NVFC chair Steve Hirsch. “We were able to educate a lot of people through our first grant – both responders and the public – but we still have much more to do. This new grant will allow us to continue the important work of making the roadways safer for all.”