LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The need for Nevada Department of Transportation’s Freeway Service Patrol is on the rise along with temperatures in the Valley.
Freeway Service Patrol Technician Timothy Stankovich says during hot months, they see more overheated vehicles, blown out fires and cars without coolant or oil.
The urgency to get people off the roadways quickly increases, too.
“I don’t know how many times I rolled up on a car, somebody ran out of gas and had a three-month-old in the backseat in the middle of the summertime,” he says. “I try to get them out of there as quickly as possible because I’m worried about their kids just like I worry about my own.”
Stankovich is one of nine Freeway Service Patrol Technicians throughout the valley. He patrols the I-15 from Craig Road to St. Rose Parkway.
“That’s what the program is designed for, is those unexpected things that happen when you’re driving, and you don’t have anybody else, that’s what we’re here for, to try to help,” Stankovich says.
He drives his assigned route Monday through Friday, stopping for any vehicle on the side of the road, or for damaging debris in the freeway.
In addition to stopping for what they see, Technicians can also get dispatched to incidents directly if drivers call *NHP.
Highway Patrol receives the call and hands it over to NDOT dispatchers. Dispatchers will then send the closest Freeway Service Patrol technician to the incident.
“The dispatchers here know what’s going on in the field and vice versa,” NDOT Public Information Officer Justin Hopkins says.
The dispatchers track each driver on a web mapping system. Green means they’re available, and yellow means they’re in the middle of a call.
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