Definitions

IN-TIME: INdiana-Traffic Incident Management Effort

IN-TIME is a multi-discipline effort with the purpose is to have traffic incident responders, from all disciplines, follow agreed-upon multi-lateral policies and procedures while being focused on the Open Roads Philosophy of having all First Responders, after ensuring their own personal safety and the safety and security of any incident victims, to have as their top priority reducing congestion and the higher risks of secondary incidents for public/motorist safety.

Open Roads Philosophy: Having all First Responders, after ensuring their own personal safety and the safety and security of any incident victims, to have as their top priority reducing congestion and the increased risks of secondary incidents for public/motorist safety.

Secondary Crash: A secondary incident occurs as a direct or indirect result of a previous incident. If a crash occurs in the queue expanding from an initial incident (of any kind)—for example, one car not being able to slow down sufficiently and rams the car in the back of the queue—this is a secondary incident. Most are generally crashes, but can be other incidents, such as a car overheating and stalling because it is sitting idle in the queue rather than moving. These sometimes lead to tertiary incidents, but all are referred to herein as “secondary.”

Traffic Incident: A traffic incident is any non-recurrent event, such as a vehicle crash, vehicle breakdown, or other special event, that causes a reduction in highway capacity and/or an increase in demand. Incidents are classified by expected duration: Major- over 90 minutes; Intermediate- 30 -90 minutes; Minor- less than 30 minutes.