SALEM (WSLS 10) - Whether you realize it or not, VDOT has extra eyes on the road to help keep drivers safe on the interstate. They're called the Safety Service Patrol.
16 workers travel across the region almost every day, looking for drivers who need help.
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They respond to disabled cars or crashes, and assist first responders.
If you ask Safety Service Patrolman Ralph Kirk why he does it, he will tell you it gives him great joy to be of service.
"I do it because I love helping people. I love my job," Kirk said.
A Salem native, Kirk spends his day at work looking to help drivers in need.
"It makes a person feel good knowing that you are making a difference in people's safety in their lives in keeping them safe," Kirk said.
For a stranded driver, Kirk is like a man in a cape who shows up just when needed. Emergency flashers are his signal for help.
"A lot of the people are scared, because it's a scary feeling being on the side of the interstate with vehicles going past you at 70 Miles per hour. So yes, people are scared and I've been scared," Kirk said.
He risks his life everyday on these dangerous roads to make sure that others can get home safely.
"I've almost been hit twice," Kirk said.
But it's his humble passion for helping others that keeps him on the job.
"I love it," Kirk said.
This program started three and half years ago. VDOT spokesman Jason Bond says their drivers can help motorists do anything from changing a tire, to jump starting a car or filling your gas tank up if you run out. They even know CPR and minor first aid.
A result Bond says is well worth the $2 million price tag. They answer more than 10,000 calls for help a year.
"That doesn't reflect all of the effects it has on the traffic from reducing delays to providing better information to the public," Bond said.
He says so many accidents and delays are avoided because they help speed up response times to crashes and get disabled drivers out of harms way.
And of course there's no price you can put on a smiling face and a helping hand when you're at your most vulnerable, stranded alongside the road.
"It's very fulfilling to be that person that can help them and get them back on their way," Kirk said.
