By Jove, I think I have it!

With reading many of the detailed MVA Police reports made available on http://www.pdxinfo.net/press-releases.html I have come to discover the primary reason for all the horrendously long and Road Closing, Motor Vehicle Accident Investigations is to determine if any of the dead or injured were using their seat belts.

I have been wondering what they were hoping to learn and who was to do what with all the statistics being gathered. Statistics with a actual value just above last weeks Trailblazers score.

An example of this was today's closing of Hwy 26 about nine miles East of Sandy when as a result of a fatal head-on crash the entire road was closed from 10:55 AM until 12:53 PM when one lane was re-opened for traffic. The entire road was then cleared at 2:27 PM. Golly, isn't that 3.6 Hours? Think of all the injured bladders there.

The question remains tonight as the investigators have not yet confirmed if a Mr. Cooper (who was seriously injured) was using safety restraints. One person who died in the obliterated Honda was not wearing a seat belt. Better give him a ticket, but not the deceased driver who was wearing her seatbelt.

Its easy to see from the pictures of the scene the accident left two emergency lanes and two traffic lanes wide open, save a few stray small parts that could have been easily swept from the pavement. But no, the survey team was called out from places afar and those citizens caught in the traffic jam were left to bloody well rot in line.

I regret the injuries and deaths, however I also shudder to think of the human hours wasted in today's unnecessary mess and for what? Disrupting the flow of traffic on Hwy 26 for all those hours doesn't lessen the suffering or return life to those who died.

P.S. I can't help but wonder if ODOT could afford more "cable lane dividers" if they conducted less CSI like activities?

P.S. #2 To think that ODOT Spokesperson Cristine Miles had the time to dress in her Ready for Prime Time ODOT Spokesperson Uniform and arrive at the accident scene where she held news conference like interviews with people from TV News. Golly, but didn't she look sharp in her ODOT hat and ODOT turtleneck? Hey, its Show Time!!