Drivers involved in minor crashes on some Central Florida highways can video chat with Florida Highway Patrol troopers, solving a faster crash than they would have had to wait for police to appear on the scene.
The Desktop Trooper program allows drivers to work remotely with FHP troopers if they fall into a minor crash on the 125-mile toll road at the Central Florida Expressway Bureau. That includes State Routes 408 and 417.
According to CFX and FHP, the pilot program, which began in October, is the first in the country.
The program is a partnership between the two agencies, an effort to clear more quickly investigations that have been hit in areas with blocked roads, balloon populations, and often waiting times after minor accidents.
“Because of the high call volume and limited trooper count, the combination of these two has resulted in high response times,” said Major Connor Cardwwell in a podcast interview with the American Association of Automobile Administrators, explaining the driving force behind the new program. “Unfortunately, some individuals have been waiting for more than an hour.”
As FHP prioritizes where troopers are sent based on the severity of crash falls, the minors are lined up last for the 1,982 sworn officers police 43.2 million highway roads across the state.
Since it began, the Desktop Trooper program has been used in 41% of all minor crashes on CFX roads.
The program is funded by CFX and FHP, but the two agencies hope that Florida Legislature will fund its statewide expansion in the coming years.
This month, FHP made the program available in dozens of other counties, from the Panhandle to South Florida.
“We believe this program works and has value to the state,” Brown said. “Our goal is to make this a mainstream option for investigating minor traffic accidents across the state in the future.”
So far, FHP has responded to more than 43,000 statewide crashes of data from Florida Department of Transportation Show data.
In central Florida, there were more than 18,000 crashes between January and June, FHP data shows. Most of these crashes have been found in Orange County with over 10,700 people, and so far this year there have been around 2,000 in each of Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties.
“This is very welcome as we have certainly challenged in Orange County with timing of response,” said Christine Moore, Orange County Commissioner who also sits on the CFX Commission.
To use the program, the driver can dial *347 (*FHP) to connect to a dispatcher that evaluates whether the crash is minor and is eligible for a desktop trooper.
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FHP defines minor crashes without minor injuries as suggesting minor injuries, towing, block lanes, or criminal violations. A commercial vehicle is not qualified and both parties involved in the collision must agree to use the program.
If a crash is eligible, the dispatcher will text a link to a driver that can chat with FHP troopers that can be placed anywhere in the state. The trooper reviews the crash scene through the camera, interviews witnesses, effectively completing the crash report. The driver does not need to install apps on your phone.
Most people who used the program are actively responding to FHP surveys, Brown said.
On Facebook, one user wrote about a program they wanted to use in their CFX posts.
“I should have called you when a woman in the left lane 92 of the Plant City swayed in my lane (right hand), ran through me from the curb and still wiped my van to the side,” the user wrote. Instead, the driver called the police and “waited more than an hour and a half.”
