Drive Safely: Utility Pole Accidents Are More Common Than You Think
Vehicle accidents involving utility poles happen in VEC territory more often than many people realize. In fact, over the last 12 years, there have been an average of just under 17 car-pole accidents per year and on average more than one per month.
Over the last decade or so, VEC crews have been responding to an overall gradually increasing number of accidents in which vehicles collide with utility poles causing damage to the poles and, likely, personal injuries and vehicle damage. (See chart above.)
When a vehicle strikes a pole, the damage to the utility equipment can be extensive, often requiring crews to replace poles, wires, transformers, and other equipment before power can be safely restored.
As a result, these outages frequently last longer than many other service interruptions, in many cases multiple hours. These accidents require crews take on an involved process of transporting a new pole to the site, digging a hole and carefully setting it, many times on busy roads. Like any repair in the field, these replacements pose safety risks for our workers. And the outage itself, of course, causes inconvenience to our members.
Especially as the days get shorter and in inclement weather, please drive carefully, stay alert, and help keep yourself, your neighbors, and our electric system safe.