diff --git a/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/include/traffic_incident_node.hpp b/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/include/traffic_incident_node.hpp
index ecb46179..743fd902 100644
--- a/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/include/traffic_incident_node.hpp
+++ b/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/include/traffic_incident_node.hpp
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ class TrafficIncidentNode : public carma_ros2_utils::CarmaLifecycleNode
   double down_track_;
   double up_track_;
   double min_gap_;
+  static constexpr double epsilon_ = 1e-6;
 };
 
 }  // namespace traffic
diff --git a/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/src/traffic_incident_node.cpp b/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/src/traffic_incident_node.cpp
index 7432aa4e..596ac978 100644
--- a/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/src/traffic_incident_node.cpp
+++ b/carma-messenger-core/traffic_incident/src/traffic_incident_node.cpp
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ bool TrafficIncidentNode::stopTrafficBroadcastCallback(
 void TrafficIncidentNode::spin_callback(void)
 {
   if (
-    traffic_worker_.getDownTrack() > 0 || traffic_worker_.getUpTrack() > 0 || traffic_worker_.getAdvisorySpeed() > 0) {
+    std::fabs(traffic_worker_.getDownTrack()) > epsilon_ || std::fabs(traffic_worker_.getUpTrack() > epsilon_) || std::fabs(traffic_worker_.getAdvisorySpeed() > epsilon_)) {
     // construct local mobilityOperation msg
     carma_v2x_msgs::msg::MobilityOperation traffic_mobility_msg =
       traffic_worker_.mobilityMessageGenerator(traffic_worker_.getPinPoint());