The following persons are authorized to direct, control or regulate traffic: The Loren case concerned the question of whether volunteer firefighters are “persons duly authorized to regulate traffic” under section 1102 of the VTL. The Court of Appeal ruled that volunteer firefighters may direct traffic to fire and accident sites if the fire chief gives them this power under section 1602 of the LTV. Section 1602(b) states in part: “In the event of fire or other emergency, or to expel traffic or protect pedestrians or property, any police officer or other person authorized to regulate traffic at the scene of the crime may, to the extent permitted by local law. direct traffic, depending on the conditions”. (b) In addition to other law enforcement or traffic control officers, uniformed regular and volunteer firefighters, as well as uniformed regular and volunteer members of an ambulance unit, may direct traffic and enforce traffic laws and regulations at the scene or in connection with fires, accidents or other hazards related to their duties as firefighters or members of the rescue team. Except as otherwise provided herein, firefighters and members of rescue teams are not considered law enforcement or traffic control officers. The court found that under section 1102 of the VTL, the two volunteer firefighters were “duly authorized to regulate traffic” because they were acting on the direction of the fire chief. The court held that fire chiefs may delegate their regulation-making authority under section 1602 of the LTV to their subordinates. A fire chief has exclusive control over members of the fire department during all fires, inspections, inspections and other occasions when the fire department is on duty or during a parade. City Act, § 176-a; Village Law § 10-1018. The Court interpreted this control to mean that “firefighters are empowered to perform tasks essential to public safety, such as diverting traffic from the scene of a fire or dangerous accident.” Menschen v. Loren, 4 N.Y.3d at p. 411.
(a) No person shall intentionally violate or refuse to comply with any lawful order or instruction of a law enforcement officer or traffic control officer having the power to direct, control or regulate traffic, such order or instruction relating to traffic control. 17. In December 2003, volunteer firefighters in the village of Poland responded to a car accident. The fire chief ordered two firefighters to close the road. The two firefighters erected a roadblock with flares and a personal firefighter vehicle, whose blue emergency light was lit. One of the firefighters was dressed in full firefighting equipment, the other was wearing a green fluorescent vest and holding an orange road flag. The accused drove around a roadblock and ignored the firefighters` order to stop. Firefighters called the state police, who then went to the accused`s home and issued him with a ticket for violating Section 1102 of the VTL. Section 1102 of the VTL states that “no person shall disobey or refuse any lawful order or instruction of a police officer or flagman or any other person duly authorized to regulate traffic.” The defendant argued in the village court that he did not violate Section 1102 of the VTL because volunteer firefighters were not allowed to regulate traffic. The village court found that the defendant had violated section 1102 of the LTV, with the understanding that a fire chief is authorized to direct traffic at the scene of an emergency and may delegate this responsibility to subordinates.
The District Court upheld the decision of the Village Court and the Court of Appeal subsequently. Firefighters authorized to regulate and direct traffic at the scene of a fire or accident Historically, fire departments have used fire police to regulate and direct traffic at the scene of a fire or accident.1 Inf. op. cit. A.G. 134 (1966); Op. Account. 61-328. The Loren case expands the ability of a fire department to regulate and direct traffic by declaring that duly authorized firefighters who are not firefighters may regulate and direct traffic at the scene of a fire or accident. The authority and responsibility of a fire service is related to functions similar to those of firefighting, and its members, including fire police, are limited to responding to fires or accidents when directed to do so by the fire chief or fire service.
Op. Account. 79-853; Inf. op. cit. A.G. 103 (1975). The court`s finding that firefighters can regulate traffic under the direction of the fire chief without the need for a firefighter designation enhances a firefighter`s ability to assist at the scene of an accident to ensure public safety. The Attorney General stated in a 1975 statement that “members of [fire police] do not have exclusive authority to direct traffic, and any member of the volunteer fire department may direct traffic to help control and extinguish a fire.” This allows fire chiefs to delegate traffic control authority to firefighters in the event of a fire, accident or other emergency. Motorists who refuse to follow the instructions of a firefighter responsible for controlling traffic in the event of a fire, accident or other emergency may face a violation of section 1102 of the VTL. Sometimes traffic needs to be blocked so that other people can do their jobs safely and efficiently. I`m sure the 60 or so seconds of your day – a few times a year – must be excruciating for you, but what exactly was your endgame here? We anticipate that you will run through a construction site and shout inconsistently out the window that it is illegal to obstruct traffic? I don`t know what you do for a living, but I hope that in some way it means disturbing others a little, if only because of the delicious irony and lack of self-confidence.
People who are worried about falsely blocking the right-of-way for traffic control call 311. Technically, anyone who “signals” traffic must complete safety training, I`m sure the requirements vary from state to state, but I`m sure most, if not all, states have minimum requirements for traffic control safety training. And then there are distance and location rules for placing panels and cones and everything else.
