OPOTA SPOS UNIT 10 EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

What are the roles of a peace officer regarding traffic? Traffic Enforcement and Traffic Investigation Traffic Enforcement According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the primary tool used to reach the scene of a crime and to elude the police is a vehicle -The criminal uses the vehicle to get to the crime scene -The criminal uses the vehicle as part of the crime -The criminal uses the vehicle to leave the crime scene As a peace officer, if you have probable cause to believe a violation of law exists, then it is your duty and responsibility to take appropriate enforcement action Traffic law enforcement is important in reducing general crime -Crimes may be prevented by a visible police presence -The criminal wants to conduct activity without being detected or identified at or near the scene of a crime -If the criminal knows there is a great possibility of being contacted by an officer, the criminal may chose not to commit the crime or move to a lessor enforced jurisdiction Brainpower Read More Previous Play Next Rewind 10 seconds Move forward 10 seconds Unmute 0:00 / 0:15 Full screen Traffic Investigation -Officers will investigate traffic collisions, including hit skip and serious injury involving felony charges -They will also investigate specific complaints -Officers need to be aware that these investigations may turn into something more than just a traffic violation What is the primary reason for traffic enforcement? To reduce traffic collisions, their resulting injuries, and to facilitate the safe and expedient flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. O.R.C for moving violations 4511 O.R.C. for equipment violations 4513 O.R.C. for license suspensions 4510 O.R.C. for motor vehicle crimes 4549 Peace officer's priorities in protecting the scene of a collision 1. the first priority is to protect the crash victims and the first responders. 2. Check for injuries -Even if you were dispatched to a non-injury crash, check for injuries -EMS should always be requested to respond to the scene if an injury is reported or suspected -If responding to a fatality, always protect and cover up the victims -Any injured or deceased victims should be treated the same as you would treat your own family members 3. Protect the involved vehicles and other evidence at the collision scene How to recognize when a situation is classified as a motor vehicle traffic accident 1. The incident includes one or more occurrences of injury or damage 2. At least one occurrence of injury or damage was not the direct result of cataclysm 3. The incident involved one or more vehicles 4. At least one more vehicle was in-transport 5. The incident was an unstabilized situation 6. The unstabilized situation originated on a traffic way or the injury or the damage occurred on a traffic way 7. If the incident involved a railway train in-transport, a motor vehicle was involved prior to any injury or damage involving the train 8. Neither an aircraft in-transport nor a watercraft in-transport was involved in the incident 9. If all of these conditions are met, and the property damage is over $1000, the officer will need to complete an OH-1 Sequence of events in a traffic collision To describe the sequence of events at the scene of the collision, an officer must work backwards, starting with the final rest location and then back to the encroachment of the involved traffic units 1. Encroachment- entering or intruding into the rightful path or area of another traffic unit 2. Point of possible perception- place and time at which the hazard could have been perceived by a normal person; precedes actual perception and is the beginning of perception delay 3. Point of perception- location and time where and when the person recognized the hazard 4. Evasive action- action or combination of actions taken, such as steering or braking, to avoid a collision or other hazardous situations; includes the results of an initial evasive action such as braking and skidding or slowing 5. Point of no escape- the place and time after or beyond which the crash cannot be prevented by a particular traffic unit. 6. First harmful event- first occurrence of injury or damage in the collision 7. Maximum engagement- the greatest penetration of one body, such as a vehicle, by another during collision; instant of greatest force between objects in collision; the time and place of this occurrence and the position of the bodies with respect to each other at this instant 8. Disengagement- separation of traffic units or disengagement of a traffic unit and another object after maximum engagement 9- Final rest- location where a traffic unit comes to rest after a collision; in determining final rest, investigators should find out whether the vehicle stopped at the position at which it was found, or if it was driven/moved to that position after the collision Contact damage Caused by direct contact with some object which is not a part of the vehicle -external contact damage most often appears as collapsed or deformed areas of vehicles, tears or punctures, scratches, or smeared material, transferred from one vehicle to another or one object to another -internal contact damage is found inside the vehicle and is caused when vehicle occupants strike the dashboard, steering wheel, windows, or when objects within the vehicle strike interior parts of the vehicle -relating internal contact damage to injuries sustained by the vehicle occupants, assists in determining the seating positions of the occupants Induced damage Is when part of the vehicle is displaced -Induced damage is often found adjacent to or around the contact damage and is caused by the forces of the contact damage -While the area may not have contacted any other object, it was damaged by the force of the collision Evidence that should be documented with photographs at a traffic collision Officers should photograph everything that was damaged and all physical evidence Sequence of events: -photograph the view from the drive's perception point -view from the drive's reaction point -view from the driver's point of no escape The approach to the collision scene: -photograph the approach and the departure directions of all operators -do the same for pedestrians Surface marks on the roadway: -photograph debris and marks left upon the roadway and other surfaces -photograph debris and roadway marks in the direction of movement the vehicle or object was traveling that made them The area of impact: -photograph the area of impact between the vehicles involved in the traffic collision -relate the area of impact to the final rest location of the involved vehicles or units with photographs Final rest: -show where the vehicles came to final rest and in what position -If victims or pedestrians are thrown clear of vehicles, photograph their final rest positions in the same way as a vehicles final rest. Evidence from the scene: -tire marks should be documented from the beginning of the mark to the end of the mark -photographs areas of the tire mark that explain a vehicles movement -photograph any traffic control devices -document the position of missing or damaged traffic signs Vehicle damage It is important to show the relationship between objects within a scene with photographs To corroborate eyewitness statements, take photographs of the scene from his/her position and eye level