While alternative-fuel and hybrid vehicles are no more dangerous than conventional vehicles, there are certain safety considerations that every police officer should be familiar with. 

Captain Chris Womack, of the Indianapolis Fire Department, teaches first responders about special considerations to keep in mind while dealing with alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs). 

Silent movement

Some AFVs are almost silent. That can lead responders at crash scenes to believe they are turned off when they are still running. An AFV that is on might pull forward when officers think it is off.

About a year ago, a New York firefighter was hurt at an incident where an electric SUV had come to rest partially on top of another vehicle. As the firefighter was working inside the SUV, it started driving forward. The SUV became unstable and toppled down, injuring the firefighter’s leg. It’s crucial that officers are aware that “silent movement” could happen. 

Never assume a vehicle is shut off when you don’t hear the engine running. While an electric vehicle (EV) obviously has no engine sound, many gas-powered vehicles go quiet when they shut off while stopped to conserve fuel. They can also move forward if a driver takes their foot off the brake pedal, Chris Womack says.

Police can often be called upon to check on a vehicle that has stopped with a person inside – to assess whether that person is passed out, sleeping, or experiencing a medical condition, Chris says.
 
“The first thing law enforcement or firefighters want to do is beat on the window to try to get the patient to wake up, and that’s a bad thing to do. Because, if that person comes up, they’re going to take their foot off the brake and there would be a lunge forward.” 

Chris says when EVs first hit the market, they were more distinguishable from traditionally fuelled vehicles, but that is no longer the case. Now, hybrid and AFVs basically mirror their conventional vehicle counterparts. 

“That’s why I tell people, when you come across any vehicle, you treat it like it’s a hybrid electric or alternative fuel until you prove otherwise,” he says. 

After-market parts could also convert older vehicles into hybrid or EVs, he says. 

Myths and misbeliefs

Chris always opens his classes by discussing myths and misconceptions about AFVs and hybrids.

“When it comes to these cars, they’re not any more dangerous than a conventional vehicle and a lot of times they’re actually safer,” he says, with a reminder to again be aware of silent movement. “Our tactics are a little different.” 

Most AFVs incorporate a range of safety features, he says. They can include:

• The high-voltage system in a car shutting down if there is airbag deployment.
• Impact detection using inertia switches to shut down the high-voltage system.
• Inertia switches shutting down the fuel system in compressed natural gas (CNG) or propane vehicles.
• Fault detection systems that shut down the high-voltage system in electric and hybrid vehicles if a battery heats up or if there is some type of damage. Simply turning the vehicle off disables the high-voltage systems in these cars as well. 

So, in practice, safety systems should shut electric and fuel systems down. 

However, officers and first responders can never be 100% sure that this has happened and therefore should use caution. For instance, if an airbag did not deploy in a crash, any safety systems activated by airbag deployment may not have functioned. 

First on scene

What should an officer do when arriving first at the scene of an accident involving AFVs? 

“The biggest thing we tell them is turn the vehicle off. That’s all you have to do,” says Chris.

“A lot of officers who come across an accident, adrenaline’s going, they don’t hear an engine, so they assume it’s already turned off. Make sure to look inside, turn the vehicle off, and make sure that it doesn’t get put in gear, reverse, or drive, or whatever the case may be.” 

For hybrids and EVs, there are also special towing considerations that officers should keep in mind when they request a wrecker or tow truck. 

“These cannot be put on a pull-behind wrecker, they have to be put on a flatbed… or a dolly to keep the wheels off the ground,” says Chris. 

The issue is with regenerative braking, which is used on both hybrids and EVs. If the vehicle is being towed with the tyres on the road, it could be charging the battery, causing it to heat up, and that could cause a fire. 

Officers may wonder why they might smell petrol after an accident involving an EV. Chris says some EVs do have a small petrol tank that can run a generator to recharge the car’s battery and extend its range. 

Charging station hazards

 “The biggest thing I tell law enforcement, and everyone in public safety, is know what a charging station looks like,” Chris says. 

Why? Because many are along streets or in parking lots and could be struck and damaged during an accident. If damaged, they could prove a danger to first responders. 

He suggests officers download free apps that will help them know where the EV charging sites and alternative fuelling stations are in their areas. A charging station that has been hit by a car should be treated the same as if someone had struck a fuel pump. In either case, an officer would not want to be “rushing in without knowing what’s going on.” 

The approach when a charging station could potentially be damaged is to treat it like a downed power line. Some charging stations have shut-off mechanisms, but some don’t. The only way to disrupt power would be for the power company to cut the flow of electricity. In all cases, officers should secure the scene and keep onlookers away. – policemag.com