A motorist heading east on I-495 had trouble navigating the Springfield Interchange construction site and turned into a construction access road where his car went over a five-foot drop off. That's when Ernest Taylor and the CVS/Samaritan van went into action.
"When he went in, his car went over the edge," Taylor said. "I can't believe his airbag didn't go off."
On another day, a motorist ran into trouble on the other side of the Interchange project, getting a flat tire on the ramp from I-95 north to I-495 east. It was evening and darkness was approaching. The driver had no room to pull off, so Taylor was quick with the wrench, making an Indianapolis 500-style pit stop.
"That was one of the quickest tire changes I ever made," Taylor said.
Taylor is part of a nationwide fleet of vans sponsored by Samaritan Inc. that travels the nation's highways in suburban centers, providing assistance to troubled motorists in a number of ways. He can do anything from providing a gallon of gas to plugging a flat tire. Taylor is a resident of Washington, D.C., and his area of responsibility is on I-395 from the Third Street tunnel in the District of Columbia to the Fairfax County Parkway exit by Newington, as well as I-495 from the Braddock Road exit to Eisenhower Avenue exit, encompassing the Springfield Interchange.
"It's a rewarding job," Taylor said. "You're helping someone and they're glad you're doing it."
FAIRFAX COUNTY police Lt. Butch Gamble said that helping someone goes a long way in the program.
"If I was a family traveling through the area and they run out of gas, they're priceless," Gamble said of the CVS/Samaritan vans.
Taylor's van is armed with a variety of tools, fluids, emergency signals and communications gear — a cell phone, scanner, CB radio and computer. Taylor has emergency medical training (EMT) as well.
"It's like a miniature shop on wheels," he said.
The CVS/Samaritan program is funded entirely by CVS Inc. and run by Samaritania, a company based in Lakeville, Mass. The program started in Boston in 1978 and has spread to Providence, R.I.; Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind., and Washington, D.C.
In addition, Samaritania runs vans for the Nevada and Ohio Department of Transportations as well. That is Samaritania's function, according to Tim Sullivan, trainer for Samaritania.
"We run freeway response vehicles for different sponsors," Sullivan said. "It's up to our sponsors on where we go."
Although the program does save the states involved some money when they don't have to send emergency response vehicles to various highway incidents, that's not the main purpose according to Sullivan.
"Helping the public is our primary goal," Sullivan said.
Samaritania's vans travel an average of 500,000 miles annually and help between 32,000-38,000 motorists according to the group's Web site. Other activities the vans participate in include the Boston Marathon, school functions and expos.
TWO CVS/SAMARITAN vans service the Washington metropolitan area. They operate during the morning and evening rush hours, and in the down times, the vans are parked at the Franconia Governmental Center. Although Taylor has no ties to the police or the Virginia Department of Transportation, they all work together.
"They're [Fairfax County Police Department] very helpful," Taylor said. "We can wash the vans out back, do repairs out back, the officers are always very helpful."
Gamble noted that although they don't work together, the Samaritan vans are appreciated.
"They have the capability that if they should see something, it's another set of eyes. Any help we could get like that is really appreciated," Gamble said.
While on the job, Taylor drives around in the right hand lane, going the speed limit and stopping for all vehicles pulled over on the shoulders. Sometimes the drivers are talking on the cell phone, and other times it's serious. He has experienced impatient drivers passing him on the shoulder but for the most part, people are civil, he said.
"These drivers out there, if they see someone broke down, they have no problem dialing pound 77," [for emergencies] he said.
THE EVENING shift on Thursday, April 15, was a slow run according to Taylor. He started with a Mercedes-Benz broken down on the I-95 shoulder, just south of Springfield. For the next hour, Taylor and the driver from Caroline County, Va., drove to a few nearby auto parts stores trying to find a particular part with no luck. Taylor finally dropped the driver off at Fairfax Auto Parts where the driver said he'd handle the rest.
"It's a mechanical breakdown, my wheel bearings came apart," the driver said.
The next stop was a car out of gas on the Duke Street east exit ramp. Taylor has tanks of gas and diesel fuel in the van. He filled his gas can, put a gallon of gas in the car, and off it went.
"We got a successful assist," Taylor said, as he filled out his log.