Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder has called on the NYC Department of Transportation and FDNY to install a potentially lifesaving traffic pre-emption system for the Rockaway Peninsula – a geographically isolated area – that would assist over 130,000 permanent residents and thousands of visitors, receive urgent emergency care.

“This preemption technology will help save lives by reducing delays and increasing response time while keeping roads safe,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. “Our families in Rockaway are severely lacking when it comes to emergency care and this inexpensive GPS technology can help first responders in an emergency make it to their destination quickly and safely. I strongly urge the Department of Transportation and FDNY take action and install this new technology immediately to help our families.”

Motor vehicle accidents while responding to an emergency, have traditionally been the number two killer of firefighters in the United States, second only to heart attacks. Adding traffic pre-emption technology can reduce the potential of accidents involving emergency response vehicles, Goldfeder noted.

The GPS Traffic Signal Preemption System works when an emergency vehicle responds to a 911 call, the GPS System located in the vehicle calculates the vehicle’s speed, direction, longitude and latitude information. As the vehicle approaches an intersection, the traffic lights are programmed with an approach map to define the corridor for priority control activity. As the vehicle enters the intersection’s radio range, it sends the updated speed and position of the emergency vehicle to a phase selector installed in the controller cabinet, which requests a green light though the normal controller functions. The system then recognizes the activated turn signal and relays the priority call forward to the next appropriate intersection. Once the vehicle exits, the controllers return back to the normal flow of traffic. All of the activity can be tracked remotely by traffic management personnel.

“This system is an inexpensive and simple way to prevent any type of firefighter fatalities or injuries while increasing the response time for our community,” said Chief Fahy of the Point Breeze Volunteer Fire Department.
Currently, the median time to Jamaica Hospital, the closest Level I Trauma Center (LITC) to the Rockaways is 48 minutes at rush-hour (RH) and 26 minutes during non-rush-hour (NRH) compared to 22/12 minutes for the rest of Queens. At times Jamaica Hospital will be put on diversion and the next closest LITC is New York Hospital of Queens that is 52 minutes during RH and 29 minutes during NRH. Additionally, Elmhurst Hospital is 55 minutes during RH and 35 minutes during NRH. Due to its proximity Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn is an alternative where the median time is 45 minutes during rush-hour and 23.5 minutes at other times.

“Response times are critical in an emergency and due to Rockaway’s geographical isolation, time is not always on our side,” concluded Goldfeder. “This GPS technology, already in use on Long Island and across the country, will provide unique and precise control that will help responders reach their destinations quickly and reduce crash rates by nearly 70 percent.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)