Trey Hilde helps keep your eyes on various monitors at his workstation at Ohio Department of Transportation headquarters, tracking dozens of traffic cameras across the state.
The goal? Ensure fluidity and traffic protection. And when there is a twist of fate or a traffic jam, spread the word as soon as possible to avoid a pile or a secondary device for bending the wings.
Hilde helps keep an eye out for smart lanes on I-670 in Columbus and I-90 east of Cleveland. It has the strength to replace condition-based speed limits, open or close traffic-based side lanes, and display messages to motorists. in ODOT signals.
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Employees at ODOT’s traffic control center see real-time footage from 1,000 cameras that capture the boring and the mundane down to the terrible and the crazy. Cameras show trucks overturning when they spin too fast, cars taking off like in an action movie, motorists squandering and driving like small cars.
Motorists will have some of the same knowledge through the OHGO app, which provides drivers with real-time data on traffic, construction, road situations and accidents.
Shift chief Dominic DelCol said he saw a bridge catch fire, a road under the structure collapse in Cincinnati, an earthquake near Cleveland, tornadoes in Dayton and a drugged-out naked guy running down the road for about a mile.
DelCol highlights a reel of dramatic injuries and stupid movements. He likes to show it to visitors, and no, bloody fatal injuries are included. a road near Findlay.
Traffic controllers also have their own jargon: “Turtle” means a car overturned on its roof, “Crocodiles” are tire marks on the sidewalk, and “Can Opener” means that the roof of a semi-trailer peels off when it’s not working. There is not enough area under a bridge.
In the center, operators can tilt, move and zoom in on cameras, some of which shoot in high definition, to see what’s happening on the roads. They can talk to state infantrymen and ODOT groups on the floor for percentage information.
And they see terrible wounds in real time.
“I’ve noticed some serious accidents. People get fired from their cars. Families die overnight,” said Trey Hilde, a Navy veteran who has worked at the Traffic Monitoring Center for seven years. “The gravity of what we’re doing here is very real. “
For Hilde, she tries to desensitize to the trauma she is witnessing.
Stephen McDaniels helps keep an eye on 12 cameras, giving you a live view of the roads that pass through Dayton and Toledo.
When you see a horrific accident, try to focus on the immediate action you can take: alert local police or the Ohio State Highway Patrol and post traffic alerts on bulletin forums upstream of the crash site.
McDaniels has noted suicides (oncoming motorists driving down the semi-truck trail and other people jumping off bridges) and fatal injuries in real time. truck and ejecting his body.
Gallows humor is McDaniels’ way of dealing with trauma. “To be honest, you have to joke about it. “
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news outlets in Ohio.