St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
Emergency Vehicle Accident Study (Year 1977)
Summary Information
This report examined emergency vehicle accident data rates before and after installation of emergency vehicle traffic signal preemption systems in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1969, 28 signal preemption systems were installed as an electronic safety system designed to change traffic signals to green for emergency vehicle priority.
Between 1969 and 1976, the accident rate for emergency vehicles decreased by 70.8 percent. During this time period, the number of signalized intersections increased from 274 to 308, and the number of intersections with signal preemption grew from 28 to 285.
The following data was collected from 1962 through 1976.
|
YEAR
|
Number of Emergency Vehicle Accidents
|
Total Emergency Alarms
|
Number of Signalized Intersections
|
Number of Intersections With Preemption
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1976
|
3
|
20,668
|
308
|
285
|
|
1975
|
5
|
20,061
|
308
|
-
|
|
1974
|
2
|
19,564
|
306
|
-
|
|
1973
|
2
|
13,109
|
306
|
252
|
|
1972
|
3
|
9,152
|
306
|
-
|
|
1971
|
4
|
8,989
|
297
|
211
|
|
1970
|
4
|
8,363
|
290
|
190
|
|
1969
|
6
|
8,300
|
274
|
28
|
|
1968
|
7
|
7,594
|
274
|
N/A
|
|
1967
|
8
|
7,495
|
267
|
N/A
|
|
1966
|
6
|
6,669
|
-
|
N/A
|
|
1965
|
2
|
5,321
|
-
|
N/A
|
|
1964
|
4
|
5,226
|
243
|
N/A
|
|
1963
|
1
|
5,096
|
227
|
N/A
|
|
1962
|
5
|
4,434
|
223
|
N/A
|
N/A = Not Applicable.
The author noted that emergency medical services were introduced in 1970, and that by 1976 emergency medical technicians (EMT) were making approximately 13,000 responses per year.
