‘It’s not if you get hit, it’s when’: Number of crashes involving TDOT units increases in 2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It’s an alarming trend on the Volunteer State’s roads. So far this year, the number of crashes involving Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) HELP trucks has increased dramatically.

“When I came through training, I was told, ‘It’s not if you get hit, it’s when you get hit. At some point in time during your career doing this job, your truck will be hit,'” recalled Jason Moore, a HELP truck driver.

Moore knows all too well the reality of working inside a HELP truck.

“Yeah, I’ve been hit seven times in the course of eight years. Some of them have been minor, some have been more serious. I’ve totaled one truck,” Moore said.

As of July 8, TDOT said 61 of its vehicles have been struck in 2024. Thirteen of those instances involved HELP units. While department officials was unable to provide the number of incidents that happened last year, they did confirm incidents involving TDOT vehicles are up.

“It’s very frustrating. [The] majority of them are probably preventable, just by people paying attention. In my opinion, that seems to be the number one distraction that’s going on the roadway right now, is people on their phones, people reading books. I’ve seen people eating. I’ve seen people watching movies on their DVD players while going down the road. So, yeah I’d say a majority of it is preventable,” explained Moore.

The program began in 1999, to help reduce traffic congestion, improve safety, and assist motorists in distress. July marked 25 years of the HELP Program .

Operators help crash victims, intercept wrong-way drivers, and help stranded during winter events.

Two HELP operators have died in the line of duty. On Christmas Eve 2016, James ‘JR’ Rogers was assisting a stranded motorist on Interstate 40 West, but while he was changing a flat tire, he was struck by a motorist. Rogers passed away on Dec. 28, 2016.

Then, in 2011, Robert ‘Bob’ Nowicki II responded to an incident on the Interstate 55 bridge involving a tractor-trailer blocking traffic on the Arkansas side of Memphis. As he attempted to relocate the trailer, it was struck by another truck, forcing it into Nowicki’s patrol unit.

“We try to watch out for our own safety as best as possible. Obviously, you can’t watch traffic every time that you’re out there, the whole time you’re out there, but yeah, I mean, it’s discouraging for the majority of us being out there trying to help people, and people not giving us the opportunity to slow down, move over, for our own safety,” Moore said. “We want to go home just like they want to go home.”

According to TDOT, a total of 113 department employees have been killed in the line of duty. This is why officials said it is so important motorists slow down and move over when they see those yellow trucks – or any stopped vehicle.

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