Accident, 235 NB

[SEABREEZE 1957]

Originally Posted by BernieP

The light at Town Creek Dr was there before "Super Walmart". When wally world expanded they added the light between Shady Mile and Town Creek.

Are you telling me that SHA was going to take out the light at Town Creek Dr in favor of the new one?

Yes, but the light used let you go straight back to Town Creek Dr. from WalMart vs. having to cross 3 lanes & go left on Maple. The other option now is to to head North to the light by the Tire place & go left & cross 3 lanes. Poor planning IMHO. Either way to get back to Town Creek you have to cross 3 lanes.

[SEABREEZE 1957]

Originally Posted by BernieP

Truck - Moving and Storage, kind of goes together (plus I've seen a lot of rigs make that U-turn)
Besides, Smokey Joe's doesn't seem to do much rush hour business.
But where the truck is head is not all the relevant, those fool cross overs are the issue. (There are several commercial activities in the vicinity)

I know someone who saw the accident & no U-turn was involved (according to him). The State Trooper was heading North & got into the right turn lane as the truck was getting into the turn lane (probably to head to WaWa). From what this person told me, the State Trooper was hauling azz & it was just a meeting of two vehicles at the wrong time.

[MMDad]

Originally Posted by BernieP

Are you telling me that SHA was going to take out the light at Town Creek Dr in favor of the new one?

Correct, when they widened 235.

[glhs837]

Originally Posted by SEABREEZE 1957

I know someone who saw the accident & no U-turn was involved (according to him). The State Trooper was heading North & got into the right turn lane as the truck was getting into the turn lane (probably to head to WaWa). From what this person told me, the State Trooper was hauling azz & it was just a meeting of two vehicles at the wrong time.

According to the press release, the truck was crossing towards the parking lot, which is supported by the damage to the truck. If he were turning to go north, it would have been a glancing blow, not a straight t-bone. As for just being a meeting, well, there is a responsibility to not drive in such a way that that meeting happens. There's been no word about any charges, I wonder if that's because they don't plan on making a determination of fault, or because they plan on waiting til what happened fades a bit.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I think this is a case ripe for shoving blame off onto the civilian. I suspect the officer was outdriving his siren, in which case the fault for the crash would be his, IMHO. Does the MSP has a policy on speeding?

[desertrat (Premo)]

Originally Posted by glhs837

According to the press release, the truck was crossing towards the parking lot, which is supported by the damage to the truck. If he were turning to go north, it would have been a glancing blow, not a straight t-bone. As for just being a meeting, well, there is a responsibility to not drive in such a way that that meeting happens. There's been no word about any charges, I wonder if that's because they don't plan on making a determination of fault, or because they plan on waiting til what happened fades a bit.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I think this is a case ripe for shoving blame off onto the civilian. I suspect the officer was outdriving his siren, in which case the fault for the crash would be his, IMHO. Does the MSP has a policy on speeding?

If not they might want to think about it.

[BernieP]

Originally Posted by desertrat

If not they might want to think about it.

Sorry, but this is St. Mary's County where not showing full, unquestioned support for law enforcement is punishable by tar and feathering.

If anything happens, the truck driver will be charged.

The wild west attitudes in these parts is frightening.

This is a quote from our State's attorney.

“We need to place this in context. This [confrontation] was in the dead of night,” Fritz said, and the one teenager had intruded on the armed resident’s property, “or so close to it that it doesn’t make any difference, in the middle of the night. It’s lucky nothing else happened.”

SoMdNews.com: St. Mary’s mothers express fears after sons detained at gunpoint

[MMM_donuts]

Say the truck driver is charged, it's only a failure to yield, right? So $75ish plus a point or two. His insurance should cover all the damages although he'll be responsible for anything his insurance doesn't cover. Everyone's ok.

It's not really as horrible of an accident as it initially appeared. Yes?

[glhs837]

Originally Posted by BernieP

Sorry, but this is St. Mary's County where not showing full, unquestioned support for law enforcement is punishable by tar and feathering.

If anything happens, the truck driver will be charged.

The wild west attitudes in these parts is frightening.

This is a quote from our State's attorney.

Originally Posted by MMM_donuts

Say the truck driver is charged, it's only a failure to yield, right? So $75ish plus a point or two. His insurance should cover all the damages although he'll be responsible for anything his insurance doesn't cover. Everyone's ok.

It's not really as horrible of an accident as it initially appeared. Yes?

The incident you refer to was a homeowner, not any LEO, if it's the drunk student that was coming at a homeowner?

MM, not, it's not right if it wasn't his fault, why should his insurance have to pay anything, and why should his insurance rates have to go up if he wasnt at fault? And with points, damn sure his rates would go up. As for it not being horrible, from an injury stand point, thats true, but there is the matter of replacement cost for the cruiser, call that about 40-50K, and the truck, maybe 10-15K on that. Not sure if the helo ride would be a cost that needs paid for.

See, thats the attitude that bothers me, "Screw finding out whos responsible, just toss the blame at the civilian and move on". We have data, in the EVDR, at a minimum. Find out how fast the trooper was going, that is a factor in this.

[MMM_donuts]

Originally Posted by glhs837

The incident you refer to was a homeowner, not any LEO, if it's the drunk student that was coming at a homeowner?

MM, not, it's not right if it wasn't his fault, why should his insurance have to pay anything, and why should his insurance rates have to go up if he wasnt at fault? And with points, damn sure his rates would go up. As for it not being horrible, from an injury stand point, thats true, but there is the matter of replacement cost for the cruiser, call that about 40-50K, and the truck, maybe 10-15K on that. Not sure if the helo ride would be a cost that needs paid for.

See, thats the attitude that bothers me, "Screw finding out whos responsible, just toss the blame at the civilian and move on". We have data, in the EVDR, at a minimum. Find out how fast the trooper was going, that is a factor in this.

Whoa, settle down G, I do not have the attitude of "screw finding out who's responsible." I should have made that clear in my previous post.

I was speaking from the point of the truck being at fault. If it's the one at fault. I do not have any knowledge whatsoever of whatever laws are applicable to LEO's responding to a call. It IS possible that this is the fault of the truck, he did fail to yield to oncoming traffic. Whether the trooper ultimately contributed to the truck not being able to judge that traffic appropriately is something else.

Having said that and assuming he's found to be at fault, his insurance will payout a previously specified amount per person, per accident, per medical incident, per personal damage, etc. They will only pay out the amount that the cruiser is worth at the time of the accident, not a replacement amount. And because the trooper didn't spend a night in the hospital, it's somewhat safe to say that the truck's insurance is likely to cover the medical expenses even including the helicopter ride, which in some counties here are paid for through taxes and the patients are not billed anyways (or at least that's my understanding from previous experience).

Now, the truck could be sued for any damages that his insurance won't pay. And the aforementioned is assuming he has full coverage insurance. This could be "what if-ed" to death so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out but mostly I just wanted to point out that The aftermath might not be as horrible as it all initially appeared.

[glhs837]

I see what you are saying, I just hate to see citizen tossed under the bus simply because of a pro-LEO bias in the investigation. Will that happen? Cant know that. Easy to see it going either way.