Roadside Crosses

Kathryn Dance then came to the crucial thread, beneath a sad picture of crosses, flowers and a stuffed animal.

ROADSIDE CROSSES

Posted by Chilton.

I recently drove past the spot on Highway 1 where two roadside crosses, and some bright bouquets, sit. They marked the site of that terrible accident on June 9, where two girls died following a graduation party. Lives ended…and lives of loved ones and friends changed forever.

I realized that I hadn't heard much about any police investigation into the crash. I made some calls and found there'd been no arrests. No citations were even issued.

That struck me as odd. Now, no ticket means a determination that the driver-a high school student, so no names-was not to blame. So then what was the cause of the accident? As I drove along the road I noticed it was windswept and sandy and had no lights or guardrails near the spot where the car veered off the road. A caution sign was weathered and would have been hard to see in the dark (the accident occurred around midnight). There was no drainage; I could see pools of standing water on the shoulder and on the highway itself.

Why didn't the police do a thorough accident reconstruction (they have people on staff who do that, I've learned)? Why didn't Caltrans immediately send a team to examine the surface of the road, the grading, the markings? I could find no record of any such examination.

Maybe the road is as safe as can be expected.

But is it fair to us-whose children regularly drive that stretch of highway-for the authorities to dismiss the tragedy so quickly? It seems to me that their attention has faded quicker than the flowers sitting sorrowfully beneath those roadside crosses.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Ronald Kestler.

If you look at the budget situation in Monterey County and in the state in general, you will find that one area taking the brunt of our economic woes is adequate warning measures along high-risk highways. My son was killed in an accident along Highway 1 because the Curve sign had become covered with mud. It would have been an easy thing for state workers to find and clean it, but did they do this? No. Their neglect was inexcusable. Thank you, Mr. Chilton, for calling attention to this problem.

Reply to Chilton, posted by A Concerned Citizen.

Highway workers make obscene amounts of money and sit on their fat [deleted] all day long. you've seen them, everybody has, standing by the road not doing anything when they could be fixing dangerous highways and making sure we're safe. another example of our tax dollars NOT at work.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Robert Garfield, California Department of Transportation.

I wish to assure you and your readers that the safety of our citizens is Caltrans's number one priority. We make every effort to maintain the highways of our state in good repair. The portion of road where the accident you're referring to occurred is, like all highways under state control, regularly inspected. No violations or unsafe conditions were found. We urge all drivers to remember that highway safety in California is everyone's responsibility.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Tim Concord.

Your comment is EPIC WIN, Chilton! The police will get away with murder if we let them! I was pulled over on Sixty-eight because I'm African-American. The police made me sit on the ground for half an hour before they let me go and they wouldn't tell me what I'd done wrong, except for a light that was out. The government should be protecting lives not dissing i

Thank you.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Ariel.

On Friday me and my friend went to see the place where it happened and we were crying when we saw the crosses and flowers there. We were sitting there and we looked all over the highway and there were no police there, I mean, none! Just after it happened! Where were the police? And maybe it was there were no warning signs or the road was slippery, but it looked pretty safe to me, even tho it was sandy, that's true.

Reply to Chilton, posted by SimStud.

I drive that stretch of highway all the time and it's not the most dangerous place in the world, so what I'm wondering is, did the police really look at who was behind the wheel, I know [the driver] from school and I don't think he's the best driver in the world.

Reply to SimStud, posted by Footballrulz.

Dude, not the BEST driver in the world???? H8 to break it to you but [the driver] is a total fr33k and a luser, he CANT drive. I don't even think he has a license. Why didn't the cops find THAT out? Too busy going for dounuts and coffee. LOL.

Reply to Chilton, posted by MitchT.

Chilton, You're always trashing the government which is total win but in this case forget the road. It's fine. That guy from Caltrans said so. I've drove down there a hundred times and if you missed that curve because your drunk or stoned. If the police [deleted] up its because they didn't look at [the driver] close enough. He's a n00b and scary too. SimStud OWNS this thread.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Amydancer44.

This is weird cause my parents read The Report but I don't usually so it's weird that I'm here. But I heard around school what you'd posted about the accident and so I logged on. I read everything and I think you're one hundred percent right, and what that other poster said too. Everybody is i

Somebody who knows [the driver] was telling me that he was up all night before the party, I mean 24 hours, playing computer games. IMHO, he fell asleep driving, And another thing-those gamers think they're hot [deleted] behind the wheel b/c they play those driving games in the arcades but it's not the same thing.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Arthur Standish.

Federal funds for road maintenance have decreased consistently over the years, while the budget for U.S. military operations and foreign aid has quadrupled. Perhaps we should be more concerned about the lives of our citizens than those of people in other countries.

Reply to Chilton, posted by TamF1399.

[The driver] is effing weird, i mean dangerous. 1 time after cheerleader practice he was hanging out outside our locker room, like he was trying to look inside and get pictures on his phone. I go up to him and I'm like, what're you doing here and he looks at me like he was going to kill me. He's a total fr33k. i know a girl who goes to [deleted] with us and she told me [the driver] grabbed her boobs, only she's afraid to say anything because she thinks he'll come get her or start shooting people, like in Virginia Tech.

Reply to Chilton, posted by BoardtoDeath.

i heard somebody who knows a dude was at the party that night and he saw [the driver] before he got in the car and he was walking around all [deleted] up. And that's why they crashed. It was the POLICE lost the breathaliser results and it was embarrassing, so they had to let him go. And that's WORD.

Reply to Chilton, posted by SarafromCarmel.

I don't think it's fair what everybody in this thread is saying. We don't know the facts. The crash was a terrible tragedy and the police didn't press charges, so we have to go with that. Think what [the driver]'s going through. He was in my chemistry class and he never bothered anybody. He was pretty smart and helped our Table Team a lot. I'll bet he feels real bad about those girls. He's got to live with that for the rest of his life. I feel sorry for him.