Vehicle accidents make dent in wing budget Published July 17, 2008 By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin 379 AEW Public Affairs SOUTHWEST ASIA -- A recent accident, which totaled one vehicle and damaged another, focused attention on the rising number of vehicle mishaps here. The July 3 accident was one of 147 since the beginning of the year, compared to 98 during the same period last year. "From a safety perspective, the increase in mishap rates is an indicator that something is wrong or deficient and a corrective action is required," said Lt. Col. Jason Combs, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing chief of safety. "It is important to identify what that something is and fix it before it manifests itself as a major mishap or jeopardizes our ability to support the men and women on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq." Many of this year's accidents have caused minor injuries, which in some cases took people away from their jobs temporarily. "We've been very lucky nobody has been hurt seriously," said Staff Sgt. Mary Circe, 379 AEW ground safety technician. "However, we did have a vehicle roll over and a man's hand was crushed. He had to be sent home." "The vehicle accident rate here is very high in comparison with a typical installation," said Sergeant Circe. Seatbelts have helped limit the number of injuries caused by the vehicle accidents, according to safety officials. Although mission accomplishment and personnel safety are paramount, resources are also a concern. It cost the wing $102,443 to repair more than 100 vehicles involved in accidents since January, according to Chris Champney, 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management and analysis manager. Safety officials here attribute operator judgment as the main factor in vehicle mishaps. About 30 percent of this year's accidents occurred while a vehicle was backing up. "The biggest key is situational awareness," Sergeant Circe said. "Watch out. If you have someone available use a spotter. A good portion of our mishaps could have been avoided if there had been a spotter. When I say a spotter, I don't mean someone standing outside just waving, going through the motions. I mean someone who knows how to spot. In some of the incidents they had spotters and still ended up hitting something." Maintaining situational awareness is not only important when backing up. "A majority of the accidents here are due to operator inattention," said Colonel Combs. "For example, running into stationary objects to include vehicles stopped to give way to buses and pedestrians." Drivers who fail to use safety procedures here will have to explain their actions. "The [379] AEW commander requires anyone who has a vehicle mishap to report to the vice wing commander, Col. Paul Guemmer, within 48 hours to discuss the mishap," said Colonel Combs. "As a minimum, the individual is expected to provide actionable lessons learned and preventative measures to ensure the same type of mishap does not occur again." More information on traffic safety is available in AUABI 31-1001, Motor Vehicle Traffic Supervision.