PATROL MATTERSState Farm Safety Patrol Newsletter

Heard on the Street | Hats Off to Tim Karagrise | Touring the Turnpike | Keep Your Cool on the Road | Recent Turnpike News

WHAT’S INSIDE

Issue No. 4

Driving while drowsy is an unnecessary risk you shouldn’t take.

Sleep deprivation has become widespread in North America as people try to squeeze more and more activities into each day.

One consequence: more vehicle crashes attributed partly or wholly to sleepiness.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says about 1 million crashes a year are thought to occur because of driver inattention or lapses – and fatigue makes such inattention more likely.

In a survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 57 percent of those interviewed said they had driven while drowsy and 23 percent admitted to having fallen asleep behind the wheel.

NHTSA reports that sleep-induced crashes typically involve a driver who is alone and driving late at night or in mid-afternoon on a high-speed road (so the crash is more likely to be serious). Most of the time, it’s a single-car crash because the vehicle leaves the roadway.

Leave the driving to those who are wide awake! In other words, many of us may be susceptible to driving while sleepy, but there are some things we can do to avoid doing so. The National Sleep Foundation and other experts suggest:•Get a good night’s sleep before

starting a long drive.

•Avoid driving during your body’s natural “down time” when you’d normally be sleeping.

•Plan to drive long trips with a companion.

Passengers can help look for early warning signs of fatigue and can help share the driving. Passengers should stay awake to talk to the driver.

•Sit up straight while driving; don’t slouch. Don’t stare straight ahead at all times; scan the road and nearby areas.

•Stop for a rest every 100 miles or two hours.

•If you need one, take a short nap. Or get some exercise – run in place, jump up and down.

•Avoid alcohol and medications that

Be Alert to the Dangers of Drowsy Drivingmay make you sleepy; read the label on the container or ask your physician.

•Consult a doctor if you have any

symptoms of a possible sleep disorder: frequent daytime sleepiness, frequent difficulty sleeping at night or loud snoring every night.

So, before you hit the road, make sure you’ve had a good night’s

sleep. Then you can rest assured you’ll arrive at your destination

safely.

“Leave the driving to those who are wide awake!”

You’ll notice enclosed in this

newsletter is a Gold Ball ticket. “What

is this?” you ask. It’s your opportunity

to win MLB® World Series tickets

and other great prizes. Also check out

www.SFcallyourshot.com, for more

opportunities to win prizes, like a

trip to the 2009 MLB® All-Star Game

where you could Call Your Shot at the

State Farm® Home Run Derby®!

PATROL MATTERS

ever-increasing number of cars on the road. In some metropolitan areas, the concept of “rush hour” is virtually outdated because the roads

seem to be packed at all times.

Another factor is that many of us lead fast-paced lives and are always in a hurry to get somewhere. This may lead to speeding and aggressive behavior toward motorists we

believe are impeding our progress.In some areas, special law

enforcement and public awareness programs have targeted aggressive driving. Counseling has been tried with some angry drivers, but many people seem to regard rude driving as “the other guy’s” problem.     

2

HEARD ON THE STREETOn March 26, 2009, Mary Avalone of Toms River, New Jersey was traveling home from visiting her daughter in Wisconsin. She had just completed a day of changing diapers and playing with children at her daughter’s day care. Mary knew that at 80 years old it was not the best choice to make a late night trip, but due to snowfall expected in Wisconsin, she decided to make the night drive home. “I wanted to stay way the heck ahead of it [the snow].” She’s made the trip before and typically stopped at Somerset to rest, but she was awake and decided to keep driving. Around 1:30 a.m. Mary heard a “blup, blup, blup” noise and, although she first thought she had been driving on the rumble strip, she soon realized the noise she heard was her tire popping. She smelled the rubber and pulled to the

side of the road. Alone on a foggy night in the middle of the turnpike, she called AAA for assistance. AAA does not service the turnpike, they told her, but they connected her with the people who do – the State Farm Safety Patrol. The State Farm Safety Patrol operator asked Mary a number of questions to secure her location. He asked if she had her car running and her lights on and told her to sit tight. She said not 5-10 minutes later Mike Printz arrived to wait with her for the tow service. “This day and age I didn’t know if I should be polite or just roll up the window,” she said, but Mike made her feel safe and so they sat and chatted while they waited. Once the tow truck arrived, her rear tire was switched to the front and

the spare was put on the back to ensure proper balance on her mini-van. She then followed the tow truck to the gas station to have her tire replaced. By 3:30 a.m., she said she was on her way again. It was a very pleasant experience, but not something she hopes happens everyday! “I pay $25 for the tolls, because you don’t have to get off the turnpike,” she explained, “I rather the security of the turnpike.” Thank you State Farm Safety Patrol for keeping the turnpike safe and secure for people like Mary Avalone!

Does it seem to you that the highway is a much more hostile place than it used to be? Do you notice a lot of rude drivers tailgating you, cutting you off, blocking you when you want to pass, weaving from lane to lane to beat the flow of traffic, maybe even making unfriendly gestures?

If so, you’re not alone. Aggressive driving has become one of America’s most talked-about traffic safety issues. On occasion it may lead to “road rage” – use of violence to settle a dispute related to driving.

A major reason for today’s aggressive driving is traffic congestion. Construction of new roads and widening of existing ones has lagged far behind the

Keep Your Cool on the Road

This spring: Carlisle, Pennsylvania

A record-setting number of

classic and custom car and

truck enthusiasts gathered at

the Spring Carlisle 2009 event

held April 22nd - 26th at Carlisle

Fairgrounds. The Spring Carlisle

featured a Collector Car Auction

at the Carlisle Expo Center.

Carlisle also has a number

of spring and summer events,

especially for Ford, GM and

Chrysler lovers. There’s plenty of

excitement for bikers too at the

Carlisle Bike Fest in July. Seems

lots of people are interested in the

evolution of cars and their safety

features!

Touring the

Turnpike

PATROL MATTERS

Hats Off to Tim & All State Farm Safety Patrol Operators

Continued, Page 4

Tim pictured here with his Boston Terrier, Abbie, likes to spend his days off outside biking, fishing, and watching trains.

“You wear a lot of different hats on this job,” he explained, “and there are moments when you ask yourself, did I actually see what I just saw?”

Countless motorists have praised them; travelers feel safer knowing they’re there; and State Farm is proud to support them. They are the State Farm Safety Patrol Operators, and every day they offer an important safeguard for the motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Timothy Kagarise of the Harrison City Patrol Unit was kind enough to share his experiences patrolling Pennsylvania’s Interstate 76. For three years now, Tim has patrolled Interstate 76 between mile markers 49.4 and 75, including Exit 57 to Pittsburgh.

Tim works second shift three times, and the graveyard shift twice, each week. He enjoys the privacy and independence of his position. “I have my duties and know what I need to do, but I don’t have someone constantly looking over my shoulder.”

While Tim may not have someone constantly watching him, he is constantly on watch for us. He patrols his route regularly and Tim must respond to every call for “Harrison City 100” on the radio. Everything is very professional on the radio, he assured me, “no games, no name-calling, there’s a protocol.”

Tim emphasized the physical and emotional complexity of his work: “You wear a lot of different hats on this job,” he explained, “and there are moments when you ask yourself, did I actually see what I just saw?”

But just how many “hats,” as Tim put it, does one operator wear?Hats Off to the Shed Caretaker

Though his first priority is always as an emergency responder, Tim’s first task this day will be to clean up the lunchroom. He explains, “If I get a call while I’m doing that, I have to stop and take care of the call immediately.”Hats Off to the Emergency Responder

Tim is often the first to arrive at a scene and he must decide if a scene is safe. He says sometimes it’s a difficult line to draw. He always wants to help if he can, but “if I feel the scene is not safe, I don’t go into it, I wait for the police or fire department.”

A few nights earlier Tim was the first to respond to a call at 1:30 a.m. about a stopped vehicle in the middle of the right lane. He turned on all of his lights, and approached the vehicle. “I shine my light inside the car, and here the guy is asleep,” he chuckles. “I shine my light again, he woke up and took off.” Tim let the police take over. “It’s really a police matter, but here I am the first one to get there.”

Tim is justifiably proud of being the first to arrive and offering to help. “I’ve been a volunteer fireman for 30 years, so I have a lot of experience in emergency response and it’s kind of my calling.”

Luckily Tim’s family has had time to accept his “calling.” As a teenager he joined the fire department, and his parents were initially apprehensive, but grew to accept it. Tim’s wife is a paramedic and understands that “you don’t think about it, you just do the job.”Hats Off to the Trainer

State Farm Safety Patrol Operators are not required to be First Responder certified. For this reason, Tim thinks all of the patrol operators should become familiar with the following web site - http://www.respondersafety.com.

To qualify for the job one only needs a Pennsylvania driver’s license. Many of Tim’s colleagues are volunteer firefighters and EMTs, yet they all receive on-the-job training. Tim tells me, “We try to train the new guys that come off the streets. But it basically becomes a school of hard knocks.” I suppose that could be taken figuratively or literally.Hats Off to the Traffic Troubleshooter

Tim’s job is to promote safety, and he practices what he preaches. He knows operators always have to be on high alert. “This is a job where if you don’t constantly keep eyes in the back of your head, you’re foolish.”

Tasks like back logging (warning on-coming traffic of a back-up ahead), and clearing debris from the road are intensified by motorists travelling at high speeds towards you. “Traffic goes by you like you don’t even exist,” Tim explains.

Tim sometimes refers to clearing debris as “playing in traffic,” but he undoubtedly knows his job is no game. “If traffic is too heavy, I call a Trooper to come and do a ‘pace’ [drives in front of traffic at a slower pace] to make it safer.”Hats Off to the Security Provider

Tim also responds to routine disabled vehicle calls that leave drivers stranded on the side of the road. “A lot of flat tire customers, on the other side of the coin it’s a lot of mechanical problems,” Tim explains. “We don’t have anything we can service a vehicle with, but I tell customers I am going to stay behind you for safety.” Tim shared one story involving a bull that escaped its pasture. It was standing too close to the turnpike, and “people cannot drive by without calling 911,” he chuckles. Tim had a handful of encounters with the same bull, and the second to last incident he confronted the bull face to face. His twin brother advised him on how to steer the bull away from the turnpike, but the bull didn’t budge.

Tim returned to the scene after the bull refused to move for a state trooper. He pulled up in his responder truck, and as he opened the door, the bull ran away and jumped a four-foot fence! “The bull recognized the responder truck!”

MLB Golden Ticket Attached Here

PATROL MATTERS

Hats Off to the Customer Service RepThe State Farm Safety Patrol

Operators constantly cater to motorists’ needs, and their services often require direct contact with stressed motorists.

Tim finds most people are thankful and “just glad that you can get them off

the road to somewhere safe.” He’s helped many families get to a safe destination; so often, in fact, the clerk at the local Holiday Inn now recognizes his face.

Tim often assures his customers, “I’m here to help you, nobody got hurt, we’re going to get you out of here safely.”

Send comments to comments@travelersmarketing.com

Hats Off to Tim... continued

4

At the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh, Tim drove one of the State Farm Safety Patrol Trucks.

Recent Turnpike News

Tim reminds motorists whenever they are downtrodden about their vehicle’s repair cost: “you can replace the vehicle, you can’t replace yourself.” Hats Off to State Farm

Tim expressed great passion for his job, and great appreciation for State Farm’s funding. “I know the program’s improvements have been good for both the operators and the people who travel out here.” He specifically notes the vehicle wrappings and the strobe lights as making the truck and service more visible and, therefore, safer.

One alteration he feels may benefit the program is changing the color of warning lights from yellow to red. “It’s my feeling that it’ll improve safety for the responder and for the customer.”

Tim also suggests additional signage informing motorists of the excellent program available to them.

His mission, in line with State Farm’s, is to provide roadway assistance and a safer environment for travelers. Tim’s parting words of advice: “Don’t ever take safety for granted.”

By Elizabeth LaBelle

The Off-Ramp

The PTC and State Farm Safety Patrol Operators celebrated “Take Your Children to Work Day” on April 23, 2009. From left: Kaley Wallace, daughter of Jared Wallace, Operations Coordinator 1, Fare Collection Department; Danny Gray, son of Lorie Gray, Manager of Customer Assistance Center; James Dietrich, Maintenance Utility Worker at the Mt. Gretna location.

In preparation for Memorial Day weekend, the Pennsylvania

Turnpike sponsored “Take-a-Break” safety events at two of its busiest travel plazas, Allentown and Sidelong Hill. The events, in line with Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the “Click It or Ticket” campaign, encouraged motorists to buckle up and to be aware of motorcycles on the highway. “You’re never alone on the PA Turnpike” proclaimed the events’ theme. Turnpike CEO Joe Brimmeier invited everyone to come and check out the fun and educational events created to remind travelers of the Turnpike’s year-round commitment to safety. He explained, “When you see, first hand, all the safety professionals who are on the road to protect you, you’ll begin to understand what we mean when we say, ‘You’re never alone on the PA Turnpike.’”

On May 5, 2009, the Pennsylvania Turnpike

Commission (PTC) opened the newly reconstructed New Stanton Service Plaza. The plaza is part of a 30-year, public-private development program to reconstruct and modernize service plazas. The program involves Bethesda, Md. - based HMS Host Corp. and Sunoco Inc. of Philadelphia. The first service plaza to be reconstructed under the partnership was the Oakmont Service Plaza near Pittsburgh. The New Stanton Service Plaza closed on September 3, 2008 for construction, and the PTC celebrated its reopening on May 14, 2009 with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.