This morning staff members from Back The Blue NC along with Tim Hayworth (Father of Officer Ryan Hayworth and Former Zebulon Police Chief) met with NC State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, Chief State Fire Marshal Brian Taylor, and State Representative Matthew Winslow.
This was a formal meeting to introduce our proposal for a new standardized rule and/or legislation to utilize a fire truck apparatus at the scene of every vehicle accident in order to block or shield the lanes to protect all Police, Fire, and EMS workers as well as civilians and other scene responders.
As we discussed at the meeting, had this rule been in place the evening of the accident that took Knightdale Police Officer Ryan Hayworth's life, it never would have happened had a fire truck been blocking the traffic lanes (also known as shielding).
Our initial meeting went better than expected and everyone present was extremely receptive as we discussed the possibility of implementing this technique to protect our First Responders. We will keep all members informed as this process moves along.
Let us hope that we can make "Ryan's Rule", or possibly "Ryan's Law", a permanent standardized procedure in North Carolina so as to prevent the loss of another first responder(s) or officer(s) at a traffic accident again.
Pictured from left to right are:
Lindsay LiCausi CEO, Rep. Matthew Winslow, Tim Haworth, Chief State Fire Marshal Brian Taylor, Chairman Gadi Adelman, and Co-Founder Anthony LiCausi.