Professional Engineers are bound by their code of professional conduct to place the public health, safety and welfare above all else. That’s why Mr. Kevin Lacy, NCDOT’s Chief Traffic Engineer and licensed, professional engineer, turned over what appeared to be professional engineering work by an individual representing a Homeowner’s Association, to the NC Licensing Board for Engineers and Surveyors. Like all professionally licensed engineers, Mr. Lacy has an ethical obligation to the profession to report anyone who may be misleading the public by presenting “engineering quality” work not performed by a licensed, professional engineer.
This issue is not about trying to deprive Mr. Cox the right to petition the government if he and his Homeowner’s Association believe that a traffic signal is needed in his neighborhood when NCDOT concludes otherwise. All citizens have that right. The issue is about who is qualified to perform true engineering design and analysis.
Like doctors and lawyers, engineers are professionals. All PEs go through a very rigorous process to get their license – 4 years of education, 4 years as an apprentice and 16 hours of examinations. Mr. Cox says he never claimed the traffic analysis prepared by his Homeowner’s Association was engineering work yet, it was being used to dispute the work of a professionally licensed engineering firm that willingly stood by their work with a PE stamp and signature. How many of us would go to our accountant for a second medical opinion after getting an initial diagnosis from an MD and then choose the accountant’s diagnosis?
The public should be relieved that professional engineers require themselves to turn in their peers or other individuals who could potentially compromise public health and safety. If they looked the other way when they saw, for example, another engineer practicing out of their field of knowledge or engaging in an unethical or incompetent way, we might have more bridges falling, highway accidents, structures collapsing, contaminated water or countless other tragedies that could cause millions in property damage or take human lives.
If a PE prepared the traffic analysis that Mr. Cox’ Homeowner’s Association used to dispute the NCDOT work, then that PE should be willing to stand behind this work with a PE stamp and signature. But, if a PE did not prepare the Homeowner’s analysis yet, wanted it to be accepted as true, quality engineering work – good enough to stand against engineering work signed and sealed – then they degraded the profession of engineering. The public should be thankful to Mr. Lacy for performing his duty as a licensed professional engineer and should respect the high standards set by the engineering profession to first and foremost protect the public.
