Programs

According to Tennessee law (T.C.A. 55-10-117), when a motor vehicle traffic accident occurs with no apparent serious personal injury or death, the driver of each vehicle involved should remove the vehicle from the roadway whenever the move may be done safely and the vehicle is capable of being normally and safely driven.

National studies have shown that up to 20% of all collisions on controlled-access highways are "secondary," attributable to an earlier incident that has not been fully cleared.

To help ease traffic congestion, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Tennessee Department of Safety entered into an interagency memorandum of understanding to work together to ensure public safety, promote safe and orderly flow of traffic, protect the safety of emergency responders, and restore the roadway to full capacity as soon as possible following an incident. This is part of the TDOT SmartWay plan to address traffic congestion issues.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has placed signs along the state's interstate system reminding motorists to move their damaged vehicles to the shoulder if no serious injury has occurred.

TDOT also has available responder units along Tennessee's interstates in rural areas to help motorists clear their vehicles off the road and to help with any traffic problems.

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