The Freeway Service Team began as a two-year pilot project on December 20, 2001. The program is operated by the Dane County Sheriff's Office under a contract with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The two vehicles in service are extended cab, four-wheel drive pickup trucks with special equipment to assist motorists. The vehicles are equipped with a changeable message sign, appropriate fluids, traffic cones, and other appropriate equipment needed to assist a stranded motorist.
Hours of operation are 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, and the team operates on USH 12-18 from Interstate 39 - 90 to Old Sauk Road.
All services provided by the Dane County Sheriff's Office Freeway Service Team are free of charge to motorists.
The Freeway Service Team would like to remind drivers who have vehicle problems, who are involved in a crash, or who are not comfortable where they are stranded in the flow of traffic, to do the following:
When in doubt, call 911: The shoulder of any multilane roadway is designed for emergencies. If you are there, think of it as an emergency. If your vehicle is in any part of the lane of travel, you must call 911. This includes all breakdowns such as running out of gas, flat tires, and mechanical problems. Leaving your vehicle unattended could result in the vehicle being deemed a road hazard and being towed. It is also illegal to walk on USH 12, as no pedestrians are allowed upon an expressway or freeway. The Freeway Service Team is designed to respond to provide basic needs to get your vehicle operating again. If that cannot be done quickly, we will move your vehicle to a safe location to receive additional service.
Crashes: If you are involved in any type of crash, you should call 911, mainly for your protection and early warning for other motorists. Authorities can help determine if the crash is above $1,000 in damages, and therefore reportable by law. If you would like to self- report a crash, please visit Wisconsin Department of Transportation Crash Reporting
Steer It, Clear It Law: For minor crashes, by state law, if your vehicle can be driven and no one is injured, you must make every effort to move your vehicle out of the traffic lane. If the shoulder is the only place to go, that is acceptable. But, if the vehicle can be moved out of visual sight of other motorists (such as a parking lot) that is much safer for everyone. Law enforcement may ask you to relocate for your own safety under the DOT program “move it before you work it”. It is safer for all involved parties and other drivers on the roadway to move to another location. If you can steer it PLEASE and clear it!
Debris: Often times, when you see debris on the roadway, it is from drivers who did not properly secure their loads. This debris can cause damage to other vehicles and even crashes. If you see something that could be hazardous, contact 911. Remember when securing loads on your vehicle, just because it seems secure in your driveway or in a parking lot, it may not be secure at 55 miles per hour. Do not try to retrieve any debris yourself. Running out on a multilane roadway is very dangerous and salvaging debris is not worth your life. FST is now deploying a plow device designed by Jtech to clear debris without getting out of the vehicle. The device is an articulating plow that allows operators to push debris out of the travel lane to the shoulder where it can then be safely retrieved. Please stay back and away from the FST truck during debris clearing operations so the driver has room to maneuver and yield the right of away.
Move Over Law: In 2001, a law was created to protect people who work on the highway. Wis Stats 346.072 1(a)(b) states that if there is any emergency vehicle (police, fire, EMS, tow trucks, highway workers) on the shoulder of the roadway and they have their emergency lights on, motorists are required to make the area around that vehicle safer. If you are on a multilane roadway and it can be done safely, you must move over a lane. If you cannot move over or if you are on a single lane roadway, you are required to slow down while passing the vehicle. Failure to move over or slow down could result in a ticket of $263.50 and three points. Please slow down, move over and/or yield the right a way to all emergency vehicles and active tow personnel. Also please slow down and move over in work zones. It’s the law!
The Flex Lane: The Flex Lane is in operation M-F 6:45a-10a and 2:45p-6p under normal traffic conditions. The flex lane is considered an active travel lane. It can be opened at any time at the direction of DOT or local law enforcement. If you are involved in an accident in the flex lane and can move out of it safely please “Steer it and Clear it.” If the flex lane is closed, it is closed for a reason. Either there is work being done on the lane or there are hazards preventing it from being open. Please do not attempt to use the flex lane when it is closed. Know that the Freeway Service Team is rigorously moving to get it open. If traffic volume is light, the flex lane may be closed due to the fact that its width is less than that of the other travel lanes. For additional information, please see Flex Lane in Wisconsin
If you are going the speed limit, and not multitasking while driving, you will be able to react to anything that appears on the roadway in a safe manner.
The goal of the Freeway Service Team is to mitigate the impact of minor traffic incidents by providing free roadside assistance. It is not intended to provide all of the services that may be necessary to mitigate these minor incidents. Services that are not provided by the Freeway Service Team include:
There are instances where the Freeway Service Team may be required to take enforcement actions, or upon request assist another agency. The Freeway Service Team will follow all policies and procedures of the Dane County Sheriff's Office. The duties of a Deputy Sheriff will supersede any conflicting duties of the Freeway Service Team.
Should an incident occur on the Beltline within one of the adjacent local communities and local law enforcement responds, the Freeway Service Team will defer to the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement agency present. The Freeway Service Team will be responsible for clearing the beltline of vehicles or debris that causes slowdowns. Deputies will focus on these issues and will not be responsible for criminal or traffic crash investigations that occur on the Beltline.
