VIDEO: State officials kicked off Crash Responder Safety Week on Monday with a live crash demonstration, underscoring a familiar message to drivers: slow down and move over to keep emergency crews, and everyone else, safe. The staged demo showed how quickly a crash scene unfolds and how firefighters, paramedics and police coordinate under pressure. “We respond to traffic accidents at least once a day,” paramedic supervisor Sunny Johnson said.
Johnson said the danger isn’t limited to highways. Tight or narrow roads often leave first responders with little to no room to work, and even a few feet of space can be the difference between a close call and a fatal crash. “You have accidents happening on two-lane roads or side streets where people don’t have the space to give us room,” Johnson said. “Each area has its challenges.”
Advocates say the message goes beyond protecting first responders; it’s about protecting everyone standing on the shoulder. “So my brother was killed on April 22, 2020, on the mainland, helping a disabled motorist on the side of the road,” said Cindy Iodice, founder of Flagman Inc. Iodice has reached more than 12,000 Hawaii students in the past 18 months, teaching road safety early so future drivers don’t repeat today’s dangerous habits.
