There has been a horrible accident in Boston. An innocent driver was hit by a Boston cruiser on the way to a "call". The cruiser was going fast enough that the woman in the other car did not make it. Her car is just a pile of scrap metal.
Now for my questions. Exactly what "type" of call was this officer responding too? How fast was this officer driving on city streets to flip this ladies car over?
Regardless of the type of call, these are city streets. You cannot drive them at this type of speed. The police have to slow down at these intersections and make sure they are clear and then proceed. Just because they have sirens blaring and light flashing that does not mean they don't have to drive with care.
I for one know how hard it is to determine where the sirens are coming from. Just by reading between the lines you can tell a huge cover up is in the works.
I have seen police cars driving at very unsafe speed through the streets of Boston before. Yes I know that they have emergencies that they have to get there quick, however, you cannot put the rest of the city at a risk.
Driver Killed In Boston Police Crash Identified
(WBZ) SOUTH BOSTON The woman who was killed Saturday when her car was struck by a Boston police cruiser has been identified.The cruiser, operating with active lights and siren, struck 36-year-old Annemarie McNally's Saab while responding to an unrelated call Saturday afternoon in South Boston.McNally, who was from Braintree, was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where she later died. State police detectives and accident reconstruction specialists are investigating. Witnesses said the woman had the green light at the intersection.No charges have been filed. The police officer's name has not been made public."Our thoughts and prayers are with (the family) right now," Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said.
Now for my questions. Exactly what "type" of call was this officer responding too? How fast was this officer driving on city streets to flip this ladies car over?
Regardless of the type of call, these are city streets. You cannot drive them at this type of speed. The police have to slow down at these intersections and make sure they are clear and then proceed. Just because they have sirens blaring and light flashing that does not mean they don't have to drive with care.
I for one know how hard it is to determine where the sirens are coming from. Just by reading between the lines you can tell a huge cover up is in the works.
I have seen police cars driving at very unsafe speed through the streets of Boston before. Yes I know that they have emergencies that they have to get there quick, however, you cannot put the rest of the city at a risk.
Driver Killed In Boston Police Crash Identified
(WBZ) SOUTH BOSTON The woman who was killed Saturday when her car was struck by a Boston police cruiser has been identified.The cruiser, operating with active lights and siren, struck 36-year-old Annemarie McNally's Saab while responding to an unrelated call Saturday afternoon in South Boston.McNally, who was from Braintree, was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where she later died. State police detectives and accident reconstruction specialists are investigating. Witnesses said the woman had the green light at the intersection.No charges have been filed. The police officer's name has not been made public."Our thoughts and prayers are with (the family) right now," Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said.
10 comments:
oh how horrible
Let me preface my remarks by saying that Ms. McNally's death is truly a tragedy and I'll say a prayer for those she left behind.
I was married to a cop and one of my best friends was one [a street cop] for 10 years. Needless to say, I heard about their issues on a daily basis.
At that time in our area high speed chases were still legal. I don't know if they are now, but here in south Florida a chase only seems to be legal if it's 'slow'.
Many metropolitan areas have banned or cut back on chases, i.e. 'chase if it's a murderer fleeing from the scene of the crime'. I guess it's a sliding scale.
I watched the footage of the crash site on channel 5's website. It was truly awful. I don't know what the investigators will find, but think about this:
1) It WAS an accident. We all have them, and cops are people, too.
2) What if the cop was responding to a distress call, maybe a rape or strong arm robbery? What if it were you, me, or someone we love?
When you say "yes, I know that they have emergencies that they have to get there quick..." don't you mean WE have emergencies that they respond to in order to help?
I only wrote this because you seemed to have made up your mind that there's some sort of cover up going on. And there is another side to every story.
Pambie, I understand all your concerns and I guess you are correct that I have already assumed there is a cover up. The article is short sweet. I guess that was the first red flag. The second red flag is this poor woman car. Exactly how fast was this cop driving? You can tell by the pictures that this is a very congested area. I will be scanning the papers to see what they determine.
Okay, let me try again as blogger ate my first comment.
First off Pam is right about cops responding to a call.
As for the accident itself - there are several things to consider.
I don't know if you've ever been in a car accident - I have. Let me tell you about one that is similar to this situation.
I was driving down a road (nice and straight - no curves -unlike Boston roads- and fairly wide in the daytime - 10am to be precise), there was a misty rain falling... when a woman ran a red light directly into my path. (she was in her 70's and apparently didn't even SEE it!) As I had the right of way I was going 30mph when I realized she wasn't going to stop.
I hit my brakes HARD, swerved hard and hit her rear quarter panel. I was going about 15-20mph when I hit her (that's how close I was when she drove out in front of me). My car was totalled - the entire front end was caved in and it was spun 180 degrees from my original course. I had to crawl out over the center console and get out the passenger door because my door wouldn't open. Did I mention I was 7 months pregnant? Yeah. Remember this was at about 20mph!!! That's it.
The woman was damned lucky I have very good reflexes or she would have been very dead. T-boning a car is one of the more devastating accidents - there is not nearly the protection on the sides of the car as there is in the front.
Now, if the officer was driving 30-35mph to answer the call and she was suddenly in front of him with nowhere for him to swerve, then most certainly the braking would lower the front of his car and very easily send it at speed under the bottom of her car, flipping it. You don't have to be driving fast at all. With the current technology of "crumple zones" to make impacts easier on the passengers, cars now crumple MUCH more easily on the outside than they used to making even small accidents look really horrible. The cars are made that way on purpose - so the impact is absorbed by the body of the car rather than the people inside. Unfortunately it is not possible to keep people safe under all conditions - this is obviously one of those times.
I'm guessing that since the car flipped, she could easily have been killed by a head injury, but that's just a guess.
In any case, 30-35mph is not to great a speed when a cop is answering a call. Of course we could take away their cars and they could walk - that would eliminate accidents on police response.
I am always amazed that people are immediately ready to jump in and accuse the police of a cover up. Possibly because I see the same thing happen to the military on a regular basis... and I do think that most cops are decent hard working people, I would rather give them the benefit of the doubt. I guess I'm in a minority on that though.
Let me clarify a few things here before y'all get the noose and linch me to the closest tree.
I don't scream cover up very often. The thing that made me "mention" it here was the fact that the article was very short and the witnesses to the accident basically said the cop was at fault. (something they didn't mention in their two sentence article)
I support police and give them every ounce of respect that they deserve. BUT when they do something wrong (and in this case we don't know yet) I will not still defend them.
The witnesses have stated that the police car didn't slow down at all even though he had the red light. Yes I understand that he had the right of way but he HAS to slow down and make sure the intersection is clear.
I feel very sorry for him. Your life should not be destroyed because you had one lapse in judgement. I am sure he is a decorated police officer.
I am sure that this beautiful woman was in the wrong also. You are always suppose to yeild to emergency personel.
I just don't like the idea of a cover up. If this had been just a regular guy speeding they would not have waited to see why he was speeding they would have him under arrest.
I have issues with the police and they way they drive. How many times have you been doing 75 on the highway only to be passed by a cop (without his lights on)
Just recently I saw an officer sitting at a set of lights. He sat for a few minutes. Turned on his lights went through the intersection and then turned the lights off. Got to the next intersection and then turned the lights back on. He did not speed from interseciton to intersection he just thought he was too good to sit at a light.
About a month ago my husband and I were sitting at a light with several cars ahead of us. It turned green and everyone went. Out of the corner of my eye, half way through the intersection, I see this cop car. I screamed because he almost hit us broad side. Suddenly the lights came on. I freaked. We pulled over and the officer went around us and then turned the lights back off. He could have killed us because he didn't want to sit at a light. The badge and sirens do not have them the right to break the law.
Pam & Teresa I am sorry that I have offended you. I don't think that we could/should take away their cars and they could/should walk - that would eliminate accidents on police response.
I do however think that they need to be held a little more accountable to live by the same laws that the rest of us cilivians live by. They obviously have to have POWER I am not disputing that.... But they do not have a liscense to kill.
Lukie, please don't think you've offended me in any way! Your thoughts and opinions are your own and I respect them as I do my own.
After all, we're not Democrats or anything... ;)
Yes Pamibe that would be inexcusable wouldn't it.
I wasn't offended, but I know when there are horrible accidents like this, even witnesses get things wrong. And we have no idea of what really happened. (also witnesses have been known to have their own agendas regarding the police)
Yes, I've seen police behaving badly - I've also seen them do good things. So, I try not to judge based on media accounts. There is an investigation ongoing - and if her family has issues with the investigation, they can call for an outside investigation too. It would be easy because this is very high profile.
The media (who are mostly liberal and have no liking for the police)tend to come up with their own slant to the story, even to the point of making up quotes from bystanders. (they do it in so many other instances, I don't see why I should trust them in any case)
I'm very sorry it happened, I hope they can figure it out and I know the officer will have to live with this the rest of his life. *sigh* Possibly he was in the wrong or it might be her or both of them. We just don't know - even with witnesses.
Yeah, I'm a huge skeptic whenever this kind of thing happens. Mainly because I don't like "trial by media" and it always turns out to be that.
First of all I live in South Boston and there is no way that woman could have been flying at 1:00 in the afternoon. Maybe 1:00 in the morning but not the afternoon. Second I have almost been hit by a police car on several occassions because they do not use their sirens as they say they do. on one occassion I was almost hit by a cruiser traveling up a one way the wrong way with no siren and then tried to blem me. As was stated police are human they make mistakes well they also lie too. I understand that if there is an emergency that you need to repond immediatley but also cautiosly would be nice too. The people in the streets are just as important as the person in need of assistance. What if it was a child that he hit? Residential streets are clustered with people and the police should not forget that. They are supposed to be role models but I have seen them commit more moving and parking violations than the public. Safety for all should always be top priority.
AMEN!!!!!
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