ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
The safety and welfare of our community is of paramount importance to all members of the Andrews' base community.
Over the past month there have been 18 vehicle accidents reported.
To reduce vehicle accidents, operators must adhere to the rules of the road in order to reach destinations safely. Two specific items that led to some of these accidents were cell phones and inclement weather.
Base policy prohibits driving and talking on your cell phone without a hands free device. If you receive a call while driving and do not have a hands free device, you must pull over to a safe location, and then answer the phone.
Security Forces are patrolling the roadways and will ticket violators.
The speed limit on base is 25 miles-per-hour unless otherwise posted.
Operators need to be aware of road conditions and adjust their driving habits accordingly. During inclement weather there were nine vehicle accidents recently due to icy road conditions. These accidents could've been avoided if the drivers had taken the icy road conditions into consideration.
Here are some helpful tips:
* Leave at least two vehicle lengths between you and the driver ahead of you, and never lock your breaks. Doing so causes your vehicle to loose traction with the road surface and leaves you in an uncontrollable situation.
* During snow storms, never operate your vehicle without first removing snow and ice. Failure to do so could impede your view or cause snow and ice to blow onto other vehicles and potentially cause an accident.
Failure to follow the above guidelines poses a serious risk of harm to you and others on our roadways.
People will arrive safely and on-time at their destination if they are following the speed limit, rules of the road, adjusting for inclement weather and using a hands free phone device.
We owe it to our families, community and the mission to do our part to ensure we are safe on the road.
For more information, contact Tech. Sgt. Emmett Mack, 316th Security Forces Squadron, at 301-981-5079.