Crash Responder Safety Week (CRSW) All-States Webinar #2

Overview

Governor’s Proclamations

July 14, 2021 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EST

This webinar spotlighted experts from three States on how their agency, along with agency partners, successfully issued a Governor’s Proclamation in year 2020. They highlighted the use of the Proclamation to draw mass media attention to this week and galvanize the traffic incident management (TIM) community and the broader public.

• Terri Thompson, TIM Program Manager with Capitol Region Council of Governments, Connecticut, noted the process was relatively easy, beginning with outreach and collaboration with Connecticut DOT. They drafted a proclamation on October 23, and the Governor signed it on October 26, with a press release drafted and approved for release on November 6. They included the proclamation in their TIM Newsletter, social media posts and sent emails to stakeholders and partners to promote NTIRAW through web and social media, including AAA, State Police, Governor's Highway Safety Office, the University of Connecticut T2 Center, and TIM Coalition members. She presented their Press Release image, samples of their social media posts and DMS signage.
• Michael Jungbluth,  Program Manager for Emergency Transportation Operations & Traffic Incident Management Enhancement Task Force with Wisconsin DOT, noted that the process for requesting proclamations is quite streamlined in Wisconsin. In fact, the State generated 330 proclamations in 2020, and as of the webinar, 208 proclamations in the year 2021, citing ten different transportation-related proclamations. In Wisconsin, proclamation requests must be made 45-120 days before the proclamation date and may support up to six Whereas clauses. They also request citing sources for statistics, the significance of the dates, and whether the document will be presented in an event or ceremony.
• Vince Fairhurst, State Incident Response Program Manager with Washington State DOT, shared a similar story as Michael and Terri, noting the relative ease of obtaining the proclamation. The effort was initiated by the State's Incident Response team and submitted by Washington State DOT, with concurrence with State Patrol, Towing Association, the Washington Fire Chief. He presented a screenshot of their State's proclamation and discussed how the agency used the proclamation to bring greater awareness to the week. He noted the proclamations are requested annually through an online portal and included support from the agency's communications team. 

Multiple agencies and responder communities within 17 States along with national responder associations offered inputs on their plans for CRSW including proclamations, mass training, dynamic message sign content, mass and social media messaging, driver education, rest area messaging, TIM committee events, and move over law awareness efforts.