But it’s not my fault

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Badge415

There’s a something funny that happens when a person finds out they’re at fault when they rear end another car. You would think it was pretty obvious who was at fault in that situation, but sometimes there’s drama when they ask.

The rear end collision is one of the most common I go. You would think this particular type of collision would be the easiest to avoid since the car was right in front of the other driver. There’s no surprises here. The car was either moving, slowing down or stopped.

After the collision the driver will sometimes ask if they’re at fault for rear ending the car. I actually think it’s funny when they ask that. That’s like a baseball player dropping an easy fly ball and asking if it was his fault.

They other night I went to a rear end collision where the driver was shocked when she found out she was at fault for crashing into the vehicle in front of her. She was going 40 miles per hour while following a vehicle less than a car length behind when the car stopped in front of her.

Of course, she didn’t have time to stop and crashed into the car. One person went to the hospital and one of the cars had to be towed. She then wanted to debate and argue with me when she asked if she was at fault.

There’s something that happens to people who can’t believe they’re at fault when they rear end a car. I call this the “I can’t believe I’m at fault” reaction.

First there’s the look of disbelief. Their eyes get wide, the jaw clinches, the head goes back and the upper body makes an involuntary jerk to the rear. They then shake their head side to side like it’s going to go away.

This particular reaction comes in different levels of disbelief, which makes it funnier at times. The reaction can be very slight to down right drama.

Once the reaction has been displayed I try and explain to the driver that they have to drive at a speed and distance that is safe for the conditions.

Whenever the person hears that they come back with, “But I was.” They say this without realizing that they just crashed into the back of a car that was stopped in front of them.

If they had been driving at a speed and distance that was safe for the conditions I would still be sitting in Starbucks rather than standing in the street with them.

Never mind that there’s an ambulance and a fire truck taking the victim away, who was just violently assaulted from behind by a 3,000lbs object on four wheels.

The process of explaining this can be painful at times, because the driver is in defensive mode. At that point they just want to debate.

There finally comes a point where nothing I say is good enough. That’s when I bring out this one simple sentence that works every time. It’s the “I should’ve had a V8” moment for the driver who is arguing with me.

I say, “You just can’t around hitting cars.”

Once the person hears that they stop arguing. Sometimes they display the “I can’t believe I’m at fault” reaction again. That means I get to see their body involuntarily jerk backwards again, along with the jaw clenching and shake of the head. This time the eyes don’t get wide. They instead squint like the villain from a Disney movie.

Too bad I can’t say what I really want to…….. ” You just can’t go around hitting shit.”

The night I heard “Officer Down” on the radio

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Badge415

“Officer down! Officer Down! We need units code 3!”

Those were the words from our helicopter pilot in December, 2004 when he saw one of our officers get hit by a car. The tone in his voice told everyone this was bad and to get there fast.

I was parked behind a building at the time with some friends while taking a break when that radio transmission went out. It didn’t seem real and it took a moment for the words “Officer down” to sink in. I can still picture where I was standing and how I felt when I heard the radio come to life.

I jumped into my car and raced to the location like everyone else. The collision was at least two miles away and I pushed the car as hard as I’ve ever pushed a police car before or since. The radio traffic was frantic and it seemed like it took forever to get there.

At one point, there was a radio transmission about organizing an escort for the ambulance. At ache shot through me as I heard that and feared the worst.

Who was it? I still had no idea. I didn’t want to see one of my co-workers dead. Nobody does.

As I got closer to the crash, the tension rose 1,000% because I didn’t know what I was going to see when I got there. I knew there was nothing I could do to help, but there was still the need to get there fast.

I pulled up just as the ambulance was about to leave. There was a long line of police cars in front of the ambulance ready to clear intersections on the way to the hospital. I was filled with dread as I got out of my car.

I walked up to an officer and asked, “Who was it?”
“Kelly.”
“How bad is it?”
“I don’t know.”

I saw his police car in the middle of the street facing one way and the car that hit him facing the other. Its windshield was shattered and it looked bad. I stood there for a moment and took everything in as I decided where to start. The thought of the impact made me cringe.

There was a warm breeze coming from the east due to a Santa Ana Wind condition that night. The scene was quiet and somber after the ambulance left because no one knew how badly hurt Kelly was. After everything calmed down the only sound was from the idling patrol cars and the police radio. The sea of police lights were a reminder to anyone who drove by that something bad had happened here.

Kelly’s gun and equipment were strewn in the street in a perfect V from the area of impact. I noticed a steno pad lying among the debris which looked like someone put it there. It was in perfect condition. Everything else in the street was in total disarray.

An officer walked up to me and said, “I put the steno pad there because I didn’t want Kelly’s hair to fly away.”

What he said didn’t make sense and it made me go to the steno pad to see what he was talking about. I knelt down and lifted it up.

That’s when I saw Kelly’s hair waving in the wind. It was like seaweed swishing side to side as it reached up to the sunlight from the ocean floor. His hair was actually stuck to the asphalt liked it was glued down.

I then looked at the upper corner of the windshield and saw another peculiar sight that was almost as weird as Kelly’s hair being stuck to the asphalt. There were dark blue fibers in the shattered glass. The fibers were small, but clear as day. They were from his uniform and were frozen in time like a fossil waiting to be discovered.

While I was still at the scene, word came from the hospital that Kelly was talking and doing better than was first thought. With that news the mood at the collision scene changed.

Later that night I sat down with the helicopter pilot and he told me what happened. It was intense hearing him describe Kelly getting hit by the car. I could tell he felt helpless as he flew overhead.

It’s funny because there is a new generation of cops at work that drive by that spot every day, who have no idea what happened there a decade ago. To the newer cops, it’s an east/west street. To me it’s a memory from a crazy night where everything was in chaos and one of my friends was hurt.

By the way, Kelly returned to work a few months later and made a full recovery.

Oh, and remember that hair that was blowing in the wind? Well, Kelly still has a bald spot on the back of his head after all these years……

Stay safe out there.

Last month was out of control

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Badge415

“Does every city have the same problems with crashes that we do or is it just us?”

That was the question I asked one of my traffic partners on Sunday morning after handling six traffic collisions that night, which included two DUI crashes.

“I think it’s just us,” was his reply.

I have kept track of the number of collisions I’ve handled since I started working in the traffic detail in January of 1999. It turned out May of 2015 was a little out of control in the city where I work. That’s why I was glad to see June 1st on the calendar.

It was actually the second highest total in my career for the number of traffic collision reports I took in one month. The grand total for May was 54 crashes. After last month I can’t imagine what the summer months are going to be like.

The national statistics related to traffic collision deaths in the United States has gone down over the last decade, but it seems like the number of collisions we handle has gone up.

Right before the recession started, traffic collisions were out of control every single night. I called it the Wild West because it seemed like every pole in the city was being crashed into nightly. It also seemed like every drunk driver took a detour through the city.

Then the recession hit and things really calmed down around 2009 and 2010. It was a like a ghost town some nights with no one crashing, which was good. It was nothing like the rest of the 2000s.

Since then I’ve seen a gradual increase in accidents and the volume of work that we do. It’s like the Wild West again and business is booming, which is not good for the average driver in my city.

I guess this means the recession is truly over because there are tons of people out there crashing like never before. It also means I might break my record if things continue the way they are.

One thing is for sure, I won’t break my record in June. It’s not because everyone is going to be careful. It’s because I’ll be on a cruise ship for a week and I’ll have a margarita in my hand instead of a flashlight and a clipboard.

Remember to keep your eyes open out there because we don’t want to meet by accident.

Do you know how many people died today in traffic collisions?

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Badge415

How important is traffic safety to you?

How many people were killed in the time it took you to watch your favorite TV show? Do you know how many people were killed in the time it took you to drive to work, pick up your kids and go to soccer practice?

How important is this subject to you?

Now, try asking how important this subject is to the person who lost their husband, wife, son, daughter, grandmother, grandpa or child in a traffic collision. Try asking someone who has permanent back pain after being involved in a collision.

How important is this subject to them? It’s more important than you know.

32,719 people were killed in traffic collisions in the United States in 2013. That’s an average of 89 people a day. Every day.

That’s almost an average of 4 people an hour.

Ask any officer or firefighter who has been to a fatal collision. They’ll tell you how it didn’t have to happen. They’ll also tell you how many times they’ve seen carelessness take a life away.

The most painful sound to hear is a family screaming and crying after being told that their loved one was killed in a car accident. It’s the type of sound that stays with you. It’s the type of sound that hurts to listen to it.

You can feel if vibrating through your bones as each cry seems to pass through you like a cold wind on a winter day. It bites and cuts through you. It makes you shiver.

The sound eventually leaves, but it lingers like fingers grabbing at your heart to tug at it. You try to ignore it, but you can’t.

If every person heard that sound, it would scare them into being a safer driver. If every person could walk with me as I stepped over body parts at a collision scene, they would understand what it means to be a safer driver.

If every person knew what it was like to look at the bottom of their boots to make sure there was no flesh or brains in the groves, they would be a safer driver.

If every driver knew what a burning car with people inside smelled like, they would want to be a safer driver.

And finally, if every person could see what a child looks like after their head was run over by a car, they too would want to be a safer driver.

It’s these sights, smells and sounds that have made me be a safer driver. Now, let’s talk about that question I asked in the beginning.

How important is this subject to you?

Pass this along to someone and let’s try and get people to be safer drivers.

No one follows the rules

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Badge415

Responding to collision calls that involve unlicensed drivers is pretty common for me. If the regular public actually knew how many collisions were caused by unlicensed drivers they would be shocked.

Sometimes it seems like I can’t go to a collision call without at least one of the drivers being unlicensed. Sometimes it’s both drivers.

To me it’s the most basic rule of driving. Have a license. It’s pretty easy, but there are a lot of people out there who just don’t care about our laws or the rules. It’s a common theme in police work.

There are people out there who have been cited numerous times for driving while unlicensed, but they’re still out there committing violations and crashing into people.

And when they do crash, the unlicensed driver is almost always at fault. It’s amazing how much damage and destruction they cause.

It’s one thing if you’re unlicensed and minding your own business. If I don’t know about it then there’s no reason to bother you. But it’s another thing if you’re out there crashing into people and hurting them.

Friday night was another example of the unlicensed driver causing chaos and not caring.

The driver told me he was “going a little fast,” while he was looking at his phone to change a song. He was still looking down when he swerved to the left and crashed into a car that was stopped for a red light.

He never saw the car before he hit it because he was looking down at his phone the entire time.

While I was interviewing him, he told me he has been cited twice for no license and this was his second time being involved in a collision.

Then I saw something written on his windshield that left me shaking my head like I normally do at work. I shake my head so much at irresponsibility that I’m almost like a sideways bobblehead.

The date 1-23-15 was written on the windshield, along with 30 DAY. This was a marking from a tow company after the vehicle had been taken to the yard.

This guy had his vehicle impounded for 30 days on January 23rd, for driving while unlicensed. He hadn’t even bothered to erase the markings from his windshield.

If he can’t erase the tow company markings, what makes you think he even cares about what kind of damage or harm he does with his car? The proof was right there in the street because both cars were towed.

During the interview he told me he had been living illegally in California and didn’t have a license. I asked him why he hadn’t gone to the DMV because they were handling out driver’s licenses to everybody since the beginning of January.

His answer should get you upset if you’re following all the rules and have car insurance.

He just hadn’t gone yet. He hadn’t even made the effort to go to the DMV, despite the fact that they’re handling out licenses to everyone like candy.

When he found out his car was being impounded again he asked if he could have a chance. I told him no way. He then asked, “Can you just have the tow truck put the car in my backyard?” NO!

This article isn’t a debate if they should get licenses or not. That’s for someone else to decide. I’m just telling a story about what happens almost nightly where I work.

In California, everyone has the ability to get a driver’s license no matter what country they’re from or what their citizenship is. That’s fine, but when a person hasn’t even made the effort to go to the DMV then it’s beyond lazy and I have no sympathy.

Unfortunately they’re out there on the roads with the rest of us. Stay safe out there.

What’s the crash theme for tonight?

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Badge415

Every work day seems to have a theme. Sometimes it’s “red light” night where every crash I take involves someone who ran a red light. Sometimes it’s “rear end” or “knock a pole down” night. It just depends on which way the wind is blowing.

This week’s theme was, “12500 crashes into 12500.”

12500a is the California vehicle section for unlicensed driver. So, if a 12500 crashed into a 12500, wouldn’t that make it a 25,000 night?

Imagine how many cars are out on the road at one time. For the most part, people manage to avoid each other and not crash.

Now, how do two 12500s manage to crash into each other?

It’s like these two vehicles were 3,000lbs magnets that were destined to crash into each other. It was the perfect storm and all the planets aligned at the same time. It doesn’t happen that often and I can’t help but laugh a little bit when it does.

It happened once on Friday night and again on Saturday night. Most sport teams have a hard time doing a “repeat.” I didn’t even have to try. It just happened on its own.

On Friday night, two 12000s crashed into each other when one turned in front of another. Both drivers told me they had failed the written test at the DMV. How ironic.

On Saturday night, one 12500 was parked on the street. There was a car parked in front of him with no one in it. A few minutes later someone got into that vehicle and backed into the guy while he was sitting in his car. The suspect vehicle then took off.

A chase ensued between the hit and run victim and the suspect. They drove all over the place and went into another city while running red lights. Their driving was crazy enough to attract police attention and they were stopped in the neighboring city.

The officers determined that the collision occurred in my city so they called for us to respond. When I arrived, I found out that both drivers were the registered owners of their cars, but neither one of them had a license. It still amazes me how someone can be listed as the registered owner, but not have a driver’s license.

During the interviews I found out they both failed the DMV written test five times between the two of them. That has to be a record somewhere. It was truly the blind leading the blind.

Here’s the best part of the story. There was no damage to the victim vehicle.

They went through all of that for nothing. The biggest winner in the story was the tow truck company, which got to take two cars away as an impound prize.

Maybe they should stick to the Autopia car ride at Disneyland instead.

You can’t make this stuff up.

The Mormon Missionary

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Badge415

The funny thing about work is you never know what you’re going to hear next. Every time I think I’ve heard it all, something else comes up.

Yesterday two Mormon missionaries were riding their bicycles as they approached a red light at an intersection. Two witnesses saw them ride through the red light and one of them was hit by a mini-van.

The injured rider had a helmet, but his head injury didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t understand how the back of his head got so bloody with the helmet on. I then found out he had the helmet, but he wasn’t wearing it. It was hanging from his handlebar at the time of the crash.

While the guy was in the ambulance I spoke with his bicycle riding partner. I gave him the report number and asked him if he had any questions.

That’s when he asked a question I have never been asked before while working.

“Have you ever thought about being Mormon?”
“No.” I answered with a smile.
“Ok.”
“I once had a Book of Mormon though.”
“You did?” He asked with a surprised look.
“I was at a hotel in Provo (Utah) when someone gave it to me. I was thirteen at the time.”
“That wasn’t that long ago,” he said with a sly look.

Since I’m forty-four, the look on his face showed he was stretching the truth a bit. It still made me laugh though. What a salesmen!

Up until yesterday, I have never taken a collision report involving a Mormon missionary on a bicycle. I’ve also never taken a crash where the helmet was on the handlebars instead of on the rider’s head. Usually the rider isn’t wearing one at all.

And finally, I have never been asked if I thought about changing religions.

Even after taking 5,700 crashes, work still throws me a curve ball once in a while instead of the usual fastball down the middle.

That’s why I keep coming back. I want to see what’s going to happen next.

The Child Who Died On Me

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Badge415

“He’s not breathing!”

That’s the first thing we heard as my partner and I exited our patrol car at a traffic collision last summer.

A group of people waved at us as they pointed to a child lying on his back. We went to the corner and there he was. His eyes were open and empty looking.

Ten minutes before, Matt and I were laughing and telling stories. Now I was standing over a dying child. I got on my knees hoping to feel a heartbeat and see him breathing. That hope was crushed as soon as I touched him.

“Do you feel a pulse?” I asked my partner as he touched the child’s neck.
“No.”

I keyed my radio and said, “I need units code 3 and fire needs to step it up. I have a 9 year old who is not breathing and we’re starting CPR!”

A memory was triggered as I started chest compressions.

For a brief moment I was sent back in time to a backyard pool two months earlier. The face of a sixteen year old flashed into my mind as I remembered performing CPR on him in the dark of night. I tried to save him, but he died.

Now I was performing CPR on a child, which I hoped never to do. With each chest compression I tried to push life back into him.

“Not again,” was all I could say to myself.

As I did the chest compressions, I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. I forced myself to look away and concentrated on the compressions. I couldn’t believe this was happening again.

I could hear people crying behind me and I wondered if his parents were watching.

At one point the child let out a breath. His eyes didn’t move, but his body did as the breath came out. The crowd behind me became hopeful. I expected he would wake up at any moment.

I stopped momentarily and said, “Come on buddy,” as I tried to feel a heartbeat from his chest. My partner had his finger on the child’s neck as he tried to feel a pulse too.

“You feel it?” I asked.
“No.”

I started the chest compressions again as I silently said, “Not again! Not again!”

I could hear the people behind me start to cry louder as the energy of the crowd seemed to fade. “Come on,” I said to myself.

I still believed I would win. I believed he would live. Then he made a breath sound again as his body moved.

I put my hand on his chest again as I said, “Come on buddy. Come on buddy.” I rubbed his chest like I was trying to wake him up from a deep sleep.

That was the last he would ever move again. It felt like I was at that pool all over again.

I was losing the battle with each passing second. I then glanced at his face one final time. His eyes were blank and lifeless still. Those eyes were already looking up to heaven.

I tried, but I lost……Again.

Other officers arrived to help, along with the paramedics. An officer asked if I wanted him to take over. I nodded and got up. The soul of that tiny body had angel wings now.

I walked away and never looked back. I never saw him get loaded into the ambulance. I think that was my way of moving on.

The self-doubt then started as I asked Matt if we did everything we could. I knew we had, but I needed to hear it. He replied we had.

After everything had calmed down it was just me and a few officers at the scene. I looked at the car where the child was sitting. The damage was violent and incredible. I knew he never had a chance. I also knew I never had a chance to save him either.

I made my peace in the middle of that intersection knowing there was nothing I could do.

I didn’t leave work until after sunrise. As I drove home, I thought about his parents and the pain they were going through. I also thought about my daughter, who was the same age. I couldn’t imagine losing a child.

A tear ran down my cheek at the thought of them being told he had died.

When I got home I sat in my car as I took off my sunglasses. The child’s face was in my mind for a brief moment. It seemed like I rubbed my eyes forever as I tried to erase the image.

I walked into the house and was grateful my family was safe. Everyone was sleeping and had no idea what dad saw tonight.

Hours before I was in the middle of chaos. Now I was home and all order was restored.

When I woke up, I made sure to give my kids an extra long hug.