As a stringer the most common incident you will probably be shooting will be motor vehicle accidents also called MVAs for short .  However not just any ol’ MVA will make news, the ones that sell well are usually the ones that people die. That is just the way it is, crashes happy just about every few minutes so only major crashes will end up in tomorrow’s newspaper, online or on the 5 o’clock news. Another type of road incident that can sometimes make news is one that blocks traffic for extended periods or one that will effect rush hour traffic. Usually those may be large sinkholes, an overturned semi that spilled it’s load all over a major road, or even loose pigs on the highway! Now I have never photographed loose animals on the roadway but if you do I would love to see the pictures!

Since you will be spending a majority of your time shooting MVAs you should also know that this is probably the time where you will be hassled by cops the most. This is where the gathering your contacts lesson really helps out. If you are not on good terms with your local cops and firefighters then your job will be VERY difficult. At the MVA scene you can either make friends and cooperate or be “that guy” who is on the cops shit list and you won’t get anything good. I see it all the time people who push the limits too much, only to be on the cops shit list and constantly harassed to the point where they just stop showing up at scenes. It happens, but it can all be prevented if you do the right thing and make friends with them.[private_pro]

I don’t think I have to go over once again about how tragic a fatal car crash is to the surviving family members so be mindful to the family that are present on the scene. If cops see you showing up to a scene where a kid has just been struck and killed by a car, and you show up flashing away and getting in the family’s face then you better believe you will be in a world of hell with the cops on the scene.

Scene Safety

If you listened to your scanner to find out about the scene you are responding to then you should have some clues as to what the scene may look like. Are there powerlines down? People ejected from the vehicle? Is it a hit an run with a suspect on the loose? Each of those scenarios present their own hazards and you must be prepared to keep yourself safe. I cannot tell you about every single thing to look out for on a scene but I can give you the tips and strategys I have used throughout the years to keep me safe!

Depending if you are first to the scene or not will present even more danger to your news gathering. Being first to the scene of a traffic crash is not always a good thing, and i’m not just talking about being the first photog on the scene… I’m talking about first! You are driving on a residential street and the guy in front of you hits a kid on a bicycle, killing her instantly. He flees from the scene! You immediately pull over to try and help, but it is too late. She was not wearing a helmet and is unresponsive.

Now here is where it gets tricky, and you must use your best judgement.
Do you:
A. Pull out your camera and start taking photos of the girl’s lifeless body and her mangled pink bicycle?
B. Pull out your cellphone, call 911 report the incident and stay with the girl until help arrives?
C. See that the girl was hit and the guy flee, and follow him as you dial 911 to help catch the killer?

Well there is no right answer to that and your morals will be the one to guide you in the direction of what you should do. Me personally I would get out and do whatever I can medically to help the girl while I am on the phone with 911. I would of given them a description of the car, and direction of travel and wait until paramedics arrive. Then I would take photos. This is a big story and the photos will sell, but I am a human first so I can’t NOT help in a situation like that.

Well what if the scenario is a little different and you hear about a crash on the highway on the scanner and you just happen to be less than a mile away. A highway crash is a very dangerous place, even for responding fire and law enforcement. Not only is there debris on the roadway, there also can be bodies and evidence that should not be touched. Here are my steps for responding to a highway crash first.

Pull over to the side of the road, activate your emergency flashers and put out some road flares, cones or traffic triangles to alert other motorists. Road flares are best, but becareful because if used near dry grass you can start a brush fire and you will have another problem! On a side note to that I have heard about a Highway Patrol officer who put up some road flares next to some dry brush that was blown over by the wind and ignitied the grass, which in turn ignited his patrol car! I have also heard about officers leaving their cars running on the side of the road over dry grass. The heat from the muffler ignited the dry grass and burned his car! So turn off your car when parked on the side of the road, and if you have to leave it on be sure not to park around dry grass!

Ok, back to business. Once I have setup in a good location behind the traffic crash and laid out some warning markers look for fuel that may have been spilled during the crash. If the fuel leaks downhill and your car is on the bottom it could be ignited and… well you know the rest. Living in Florida there are not many hills but you should still look out for spilled fuel, oil antifreeze etc. that can be leaking from the vehicles in the crash. Once you have the

Traffic: An accident on the highway is a very dangerous place to be. Motorists passing by will be hipnotized by the crash and may not be paying attention to you crossing the street. If you are first on the scene it makes it even more dangerous so watch out. Wearing a bright florescent vest may seem dorky but that extra visibility may save your life.

HAZMAT: Crashes involving tanker trucks can be very dangerous because the contents of the tanker may be very toxic or flammable. Where I live in Tampa, Florida there is a port nearby that handles a lot of fuel and chemicals so there are lots of tanker trucks carrying very dangerous cargo all through the town. If you notice the warning placard usually located on the rear of the truck you can see what kind of chemical they are transporting. If you purchase the Emergency Response Guide book also called ERG book you will be able to look up the number and tell what kind of hazard it is. Firefighters and police carry that book in their units and are supposed to look up the number before getting too close. 

Downed Power lines: A lot of crashes can take down power lines and if it is raining the downed lines and energize the water and if you step in it you can be shocked. So always look up and around for downed and sparking power lines.

Evidence: You will probably not be parking too close to the scene because of the police roadblocks but as you walk towards the scene do not step on, touch or move anything that could be evidence in the investigation. Evidence on the scene can include body parts/tissue, hair, beer cans, skid marks, broken tree limbs, car parts and even liquids and fluids can all help the investigator find out more information about what caused the crash.

The Moneyshot

Here are the shots you should be looking for

• Heavy Damage
  Cars with heavy damage and unusual positions make a good standalone photo
• Dramatic Rescue
  Firefighters, police or civilians trying to free a trapped victim stuck inside of a car also makes good photos. Rescue crews doing an extrication (cutting them out) using the spreaders aka “Jaws of Life” sell well also. These will be hard to get unless you arrive on the scene right away.
• Danger
  Shooting a scene that shows a high amount of danger such as a vehicle on fire, stuck in the water or near downed powerlines show the danger firefighters and rescue personel do every day. Newspaper readers and photo editors love to see photos like this.
  
• CPR and dead bodies
  Most newspaper will not run photos of dead bodies or a child getting CPR but your job is to shoot it and the photo editor’s job is to decide how to run it. Shoot it and let the editor know what you have, they can decide if their readers would like to see it or not. When it comes to dead bodies respect the deceased and do not get a face photo or a photo that is too bloody or mangled for your “personal collection” cops don’t like that and if they see you… out you go!
• Air Transport
  Keep an eye out for medical helicopters inbound to transport patients.

Valuable photos

One last note about traffic accidents is that since they happen so often you may pass them up thinking its just another MVA. As a general rule I shoot ever single MVA I pass by. You never know who is the person in the car. If you are driving somewhere and see a crash, even a minor one, snap a quick photo of it. You don’t even need to leave your car, just drive up and shoot through the window. I do it all the time and it can pay off. Take the crash with the Yellow Supra. That car slammed into a tree and the patients had to be cut out of the car. It was a major crash that I would have photographed anyways but like I say, you never know who owns that vehicle.

Turns out the driver of that vehicle was Nick Bollea, better known as Nick Hogan.. even better known as Hulk Hogan’s son. A friend of mine was the first and only news photog on the scene and got exclusive photos and video of Hulk Hogan at the scene while firefighters cut his son out of the twisted car. He made thousands of dollars off of that video and pics! I live about an hour away from that scene but I still drove out there knowing that the photos of the car would be valuable for months to come. Turns out I myself made thousands of dollars selling that single photo to newspapers, magazine, and tabloids all over the world.  So just because that MVA you hear on the scanner is not a double fatality or a hit and run, it can be even more valuable because who the driver or passengers could be.

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