The death early this year of an emergency responder at the scene of an accident has driven home two points: Changes in the law need to be made to protect those responding to an accident, and drivers need to be more responsible.

Data compiled by the Emergency Responder Safety Institute shows that 44 emergency personnel nationwide were killed by vehicles last year while responding to an accident.

Between 2011 and 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that one-third of fatal injuries for emergency responders were at vehicle incidents.

This year, there already have been seven deaths — including 44-year-old Pennsylvania EMT Matthew Smelser, who died Jan. 5 after exiting his ambulance at a crash scene on Interstate 70 in Westmoreland County.

Paramedic Michael Bedner has posted a Change.org petition that calls for lawmakers to protect emergency responders.

The petition asks for more advanced warning systems, decreased speed limits during dangerous weather conditions and safer roads allowing more room to pull over.

We hope the petition gains traction and that lawmakers not only take notice, but also action.

But laws alone won’t lead to safer roads.

Harmony Fire District Chief Scott Garing told the Eagle about a recent crash on Interstate 79 that led to dangerous conditions for responders.

On a “blind bend,” firefighters set up a truck to block one lane of travel to slow down drivers ahead of the accident. But by the time drivers reached the scene, they’d increased speed again and weather conditions remained poor.

Garing said he was nearly hit several times, and drivers ran over flares and often entered the wrong lane.

Steve Bicehouse, director of the county’s Emergency Services, said drivers have in recent years become more aggressive and ignored speed limits, even in inclement weather.

“Someone’s going to get hurt or killed,” Garing said.

Some already have.

While we wholeheartedly support making changes to the law to protect responders, it also falls on Pennsylvania drivers to follow those laws.

Recent years have seen increases in distracted driving due to such dangerous practices as texting while driving. Throw in bad weather, and you have the recipe for a catastrophe.

It doesn’t help that a recent bill approved by the state’s House of Representatives to ban the use of hand-held phones for all drivers doesn’t allow police to stop drivers for that reason alone, but rather makes it a secondary offense.

Pennsylvanians should engage in common sense behavior while driving: don’t text and drive; obey the speed limits, especially during bad weather; and be cautious near an accident scene.

The safety of our emergency responders depends on it.