Accident Scene Investigations

As the commuter rush was ebbing on the evening of January 3rd on Larpenteur Avenue, the border of St. Paul and inner ring suburb Roseville, an automobile struck two pedestrians that appear to have been crossing the street, killing both. The driver of the car stopped at the scene.

The incident, a tragedy for all concerned, occurred at about 5:30 pm. The street, a main east-west traffic artery, was closed both ways until 9:45 as law enforcement investigated the incident. That's 4 hours and 15 minutes to essentially determine if there will be charges filed for the driver of the car. If indeed the two victims were crossing the street and not walking on its edge, it was in an unlighted area known to be dangerous to anyone familiar with it.

That, however, is not the point. The issue is what possible information could be gathered at the scene in the second or third or fourth hour of the investigation? It's possible that there may be more pertinent information, cell phone records of the driver, a possible witness driving beside the car in question, blood alcohol testing, etc. None of that information requires the closure of the highway, interruption of rush hour traffic or ongoing police presence.

The real reason for this extended investigation, and many other investigations of serious accidents, is that officers called to them have an opportunity to receive overtime wages. News media abdicates its responsibility to inform the public of the financial details of its employees compensation when it fails to examine these incidents.

On August 2, 2017 a natural gas explosion destroyed a large portion of the main structure of Minnehaha Academy in south Minneapolis, MN. Two people were killed. The investigative agency, the National Transportation Safety Board, announced at the time that its investigation of the event would likely take more than a year to complete. No final report has been made as of this date, 16 months later. Is there some as yet undiscovered information that will explain what led to this disaster?

A fire broke out in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 in 2010 while a contractor was doing maintenance on the aircraft. Four years later the agency assigned responsibility for the incident to the airline and fined them a half-million dollars.