My Story: The Accident and my conduct

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Accident Date: 4/19/01
Accident Report #20010419M4
Citation No. A68666
Telford Police Dept.: 215-723-6700

THE ACCIDENT AND MY CONDUCT

Prior to the accident on this particular day (4-19-01), at least four other incidents of people crossing beyond the stop line had occurred. The incident prior to this one involved a woman, driving a minivan (one and a half vehicle lengths) beyond the stop line. While watching for her to acknowledge that the length of my vehicle would be hindered with her stopped where she was, I observed she was ignoring (me and the truck) I was driving. She finally looked in my direction as my vehicle slowly approached her vehicle, she looked at me with such contempt, but she refused to move her vehicle. Slowly I completed the right turn, I was able to complete the turn but I was out of my comfort zone because I had to place the truck much too close to the vehicle that was in the way. I was turning from southbound route113 making a right turn onto westbound Ridge Pike. I made my delivery nearby and was returning to our facility.

The accident.

I was coming through the intersection east bound Reliance Rd. to a right turn onto south bound County Line Rd.

There have been several close calls at this intersection in the past, in regards to having my vehicle struck from behind by other motorists. Even to the point on other occasions that I’ve had to get out of the truck to make sure the truck didn’t actually get hit or rear-ended. People are not expecting the truck that I am driving to have to stop, before completing my turn, due to motorists coming north bound on County Line Rd. and not stopping behind the stop line.

I had to stop for the changing traffic light. Although I was close, I was not yet into the intersection.

I stopped where I was supposed to: behind the marked stop line.

When the light changed to green, I checked the intersection and;

I proceeded into the turn appropriately according to the Commercial Drivers Manual pub. 223 (10-95) pg. 2-30 fig. 2-11 and pub. 223 (8-00) pg. 2-25 fig. 2-8

I saw a car approaching from the north bound lane of County Line Rd. coming up to the red light he had for his direction.

I saw that an elderly man driving a car with a woman passenger about his own age had stopped just over the stop line.

I had to stop: I couldn’t complete the turn.

While I was waiting for the elderly gentleman to back up, I was watching in my mirror to see that I wasn’t getting rear-ended;

I saw that my vehicle was close to being struck from the car directly behind me.

I saw the car behind me make an abrupt stop.

At 11:30 AM. 5-02-01 I left a message on Officer Fox’s voice mail asking to have the plates of the elderly mans car run so I could receive his information. He was responsible for the accident. And I asked for an addition to the accident report to be made with regard to the abrupt stop Mrs. Allsop made.

To this point I gave a deposition to Mr. Trans insurance company 5-02-01 @ 7:15 Reference # 3811J673706.

They contacted me and said they were not requested to call me by Mr. Tran. I spoke with a woman in the Tran household about 6:00 AM. (5-01-01). I requested to speak with a claim handler.

I saw the car that almost hit me get hit by the car behind her.

I set my parking brake and my four-way flashers and I went to the back of the truck to make sure everyone was ok (as per sec. 392.40 pg. #165 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (referred to here after as F.M.C.S.R.)).

I saw everyone was ok.

Mrs. Allsop, the woman behind me, said she was ok.

She had reached into her handbag and held her cell phone in her hand. (A small one like a Nextel type cell phone.)

I didn’t talk with her too long as I felt she needed time so she could call for police assistance.

Mr. Tran, the man operating the vehicle that struck Mrs. Allsop’s vehicle, told me that he was ok and that his daughter also was ok.

Taking note that Mr. Tran had a little girl in the car with him, I was flooded with emotions from dealing with Mark and Rae Ann Wieder’s memorial service and how I was dealing with telling my daughter, a student in Mark Wieder’s 4th grade class, how he died in a car accident.

The memorial service was just the Saturday before this accident (4-15-01).

The day of the accident was my first full day of work because of the long lay-off this past winter.

The partial unemployment went from 12-16-00 through 4-19-01.

I made certain I was not involved.

I went back to the front of my truck and told the elderly man to “stay put; don’t go anywhere,” and that I felt he should be charged for causing the accident.

I wanted to compel him to stay and give his drivers information to the police.

I knew I had no right to keep him there by physical force and I would not consider assaulting anyone not at all I am a pacifist. My intentions were to set a precedent for this case.

I told him in a very assertive way.

I didn’t use profanity in talking to anyone.

If I were profane it would not be reasonable, to expect the elderly man, to remain at the scene.

My use of profanity would ruin my credibility as a witness.

I went back to the cab of my truck to get a piece of paper and then back to the rear of the elderly man’s car to record his license plate number (DVH -1936) PA registration.

Getting back into my truck;

I moved the truck through the intersection, and parked the truck to the side of the road to the best of my abilities without leaving the scene.

I very much wanted to talk to a police officer about how hard it is to make turns at this intersection, it is my opinion that the intersection should be marked better so that even if a inattentive motorist stops on or just over the stop line there presence would not interfere with the egress of traffic through the intersection.

As I got out of my parked truck, a male voice yelled in my direction in a very derogatory way using very profane language.

I looked and saw, the operator of a vehicle, which I recognized as making harassing and profane comments to me before. He drove a red and white Ford pickup with contractor racks, (or at least it looked like a contractors pickup truck.)

I looked northbound County Line Rd. to make sure no traffic was currently coming in my direction;

From the intersection, I saw the cars that had just rear-ended each other just preparing to move.

As I stated the first thing I did was to check on the individuals in the cars. And the cars did look rather peculiar with the bumper of the Allsop vehicle over top of the bumper of the Tran vehicle.

I retorted, “Just hold on a minute; I want the old man to stay. I feel he was just as responsible for causing the accident, as the man who hit the woman behind me.”

Didn’t I have a right to show that I was offended by the remarks and use of profane language, coming from the Red and White Ford pickup truck?

This individual did exhibit this socially abusive behavior on another occasion.

By harassing me this individual was seen to be a threat to other individuals safety and the safety of myself.

I would like to know what Michelle Townsend thought of the individual in the Red and White Ford pickup truck behind her.

Did she even realize the profanity came from him?

My retort to this individual was a retort to keep peace. Refer to F.M.C.S.R. sec. 392.40 subsection (b) pg.#165.

Take all necessary precaution to prevent further accident at the scene.

I took one step back so as to turn around and-.

A green car pulled up behind me close enough to almost hit me.

The operator showed no intention of stopping at the scene by displaying four way flashers.

The displaying of his hazard flashers would have let me know that he was a professional.

Refer to F.M.C.S.R. sec. 392.22 subsection (a) pg.#162.

Whenever a motor vehicle is stopped upon the traveled portion of a highway or the shoulder of a highway for any cause other than necessary traffic stops the driver of the stopped vehicle shall immediately activate the vehicular hazard warning signal flashers.

He pulls up to a stop at the same time as I turned around.

I saw the car as I turned around-

I was warned about the impending danger by a woman motorist (Michelle Townsend) who was stopped behind the elderly man and in front of the pickup truck (the person who was harassing me), she warned me at the same time as I turned around, she said “Hey, watch out”

I responded back “yes, I can see him.” My response was quiet and calm.

As I turned around to look at the car I saw no four-way flashers and the car was close enough to kneel on its bumper.

I thought if I fainted I probably could have hit my head on the cars windshield.

As I was trying to put my case together I heard many times from different people that the police are supposed to be there for public safety.

How is it in the best interest of public safety to drive a car in such a manner?

He drove his car in such a manner as to cause an accident sec. 396.7 pg. #314 (F.M.C.S.R.)

396.7 Unsafe operations forbidden (a) General - A motor vehicle shall not be operated in such a manner as to cause an accident –

He didn’t use safe vehicle control sec. 383.121 pg. #50 and #51

It’s hard to say exactly how far Detective Floyd’s car really was coming from on the approach to my position standing by the cab of my truck.

I stated that I had checked the intersection the only cars moving were from behind my truck, (those cars involved in the accident). There was a red light displayed. The cars were moving into the parking lot behind the truck and on its right side.

I believe the report to be correct that the truck was pulled past the intersection 50’

My truck is 36’ long and the bed is 29’ long.

Standing by the cab of my truck and adding 29’ for the bed of the truck plus 50’ for pulling past the intersection and then add the distance of the intersection, you get a minimum distance the Detective had to travel as I gave my retort.

I looked at the driver as I walked over to his drivers’ window. His window was down just a little bit (1.5”-2”)

I was upset 1st the stop line, 2nd the nearly getting struck from behind, 3rd the profanity and now 4th I was assaulted by a vehicle driven by some guy who put his car in such a position as to nearly cause me harm.

I spoke firm and loudly to the driver of the green car, I asked a question, “What, are you doing trying to hit the pedestrian standing in the street; as if we don’t have enough problems here?”

He then retorted something concerning the possibility of my not watching where I was walking as I stepped back to turn around, and that I might have walked backwards into his car possibly hitting it.

I stated in court that with ten years of volunteer firefighting experience I knew not to walk backwards into the unknown.

The driver then asked, “Why are you standing in the middle of the street yelling at people?”

I had no idea who he was to ask me that question. I figured that didn’t matter; he didn’t have to drive so close to a pedestrian in the street. At least if I was in his way he should have given me some kind of warning: using his horn or voicing some kind of pardon.

At this point I was looking for a police officer even as earlier when the accident occurred.

This whole thing to me is improper police conduct the man became a participant instead of putting public safety first.

It is on this one point I felt the District Attorney should have been notified, prior to the perjury in court.

Certainly having someone crowd my personal space especially with their car was something that would not help the circumstances at that moment.

He pulled off around me yelling or angrily shouting, “Do you want me to call the police?” he quickly parked in front of my truck opening up his car door and showing me and others his cell phone.

This individual to me looked like many other individuals who you can spot frequently, the ones irritated that they have to share the road with anyone that might hold them up for a few seconds.

At least I knew for certain that the police would soon be here and I would have my chance to talk to an officer.

I would like a copy of the transcript from police dispatch regarding this incident.

When Mrs. Allsop called and what was said.

When Detective Floyd called and what was said.

I said, “Yes, I want the police here.”

In court he testified that I used profanity in replying to him.

Again I look to what Mrs. Townsend heard at this point.

He then added that he wanted me charged with disorderly conduct; did I want to be arrested? And he again commented something about walking into his car.

As the green car pulled over, I also recorded his license plate number (YBB 0969) PA registration, and;

If the individual could have identified himself as a police officer sooner I would not have had to write down his license number.

The woman, who warned me about his reckless approach, turns to me in response to what she just saw and heard. She says, “What is His problem?”

I later found out the identity of this woman to be a Michelle Townsend.

I turned to assist the elderly gentleman park his car figuring to talk to the elderly gentleman and to safely get his car off of the street.

By this time traffic was about to start moving and I didn’t see the Elderly gentleman’s car. But then to my surprise-.

I spotted the elderly gentleman standing at the back corner of my truck.

I walked from the center of the street to the back of my truck to the sidewalk at the back of the truck where the elderly gentleman was talking with the individuals involved in the crash.

At some point as traffic started to go, the driver of the red and white F150 yelled while passing by something to the effect of, “That’s what you get for doing 50mph through a turn!” This comment caused the man from the green car to stop his walk as he was about half way along the passengers side of my truck walking to the group of us gathered at the back of my truck.

I definitely was not going too fast, because I knew there was a great probability I would have to stop. Though even with my experience I wasn’t sure, since the elderly gentleman stopped just over the stop line.

I needed just a little forgiveness from the people marking the intersection (Penn DOT) because too many people will cross over the white line, crowding the intersection.

Even with all of my experience, I was not sure of whether or not I could complete this turn with the position of the elderly man’s car just over the stop line.

While making the turn, I positioned the truck perfectly as instructed in the Driver Training Manual (Pub. 223 (10/95), pg. 2-30, sec. 2.7: Managing Space- Right Turns, Fig. 2-11)

And also from this publication: All drivers are instructed to stop behind the stop line. (Sec. 12.1, pg. 12-1)

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Note to: Penn Dot
==============================

It would really be a great help if someone could move the stop lines a few feet further away from this intersection in all directions.

===================

In regard to the fact that there is no law about crossing the stop line it is an automatic failure when taking a driver’s test, and the state appeals court opened the door for police to follow through in the fact that we have enough driving laws in this state to cover any driving offense. This was a recorded fact when the Hilltown Ban on driving while talking on the cell phone was challenged on appeal in the state court system. The state justices said it would not be right for local municipalities to make such legislation.

And then the man in the green car, that had harassed me just minutes before, finally joined the group of us at the back of my truck. That is when he started to introduce himself as a Detective Floyd of the Telford Police Department.

Because of his conduct, I asked, when offered, to see his badge.

I said, “Yes I would like to see that please.”

I watched Mr. Tran, Mrs. Allsop and the Gentleman who crossed the stop line decline to view the Detective’s badge when he offered to show it to them.

He began questioning my conduct asking why I was yelling in the middle of the street. I began to explain saying “the man in the pick up truck” and he silenced me, he began lecturing me, he started with the statement that “he saw the whole thing.”

((On (9-8-88) at about 6:45 am. I had received a written warning from the Warminster police department about this very issue.

Because I attempted to help a stalled motorist.

The light had cycled several times before I finally got the opportunity to make this turn.

The officer saw me get out of my truck to help.

The officer didn’t write me a citation of violation.

I was informed that I made an illegal turn against the traffic control signal because my vehicle didn’t break the curb line of the intersection.

Even though I was well past the stop line.

This led me to believe that indeed I was in the middle of the intersection.

Of course if I had pulled the truck beyond the curb line as the officer intends then the large vehicle wouldn’t have been able to complete the turn without having to back up or run over the curb and sidewalk when exiting the turn.

In this matter I was instructed to contact my congressman to enact legislation in regards to the stop line.))

After Detective Floyd introduced himself and had some words with me.

Officer Ritter pulled up,

and then Officer Fox

They greeted Detective Floyd

The officers looked over the scene

I was asked for my driver’s I.D.

Detective Floyd then apologized to the other two officers for having to have them come out and fill out the accident report, since the accident was a non-reportable one. He said, “I could have done this myself.”

Based on Detective Floyd’s conversation, he seemed to think at the time that there might have been more damage to the cars than there was.

Detective Floyd then spoke of a meeting he was trying to get to.

That may explain his impatience to, get past the accident scene and myself without introducing himself first as a police officer.

Then Detective Floyd asked why it was that if I wasn’t involved in the accident that I was stopped here on the highway? Why wasn’t I on my way? Didn’t I have work to do? Why is this truck sitting here blocking traffic? What is this man doing here?

Thankfully, one of the officers spoke in response to say exactly what I was thinking in answer to his question, “He is a witness”. I gave the officer a very confirming look.

I was flabbergasted; I couldn’t believe an officer of the law was asking such a question.

I believe that Officer Fox was writing up my license information at the time.

I believe Officer Ritter was close by.

At this point officer Ritter took me off to the side to question me about what happened. I tried to hold our conversation as quickly as possible, and immediately identified a visual obstruction. A few more steps closer to the side walk or even on the sidewalk and I could have pointed to that which we were about to discuss.

I started walking over to the sidewalk where we would have a better view.

I was trying to explain to Officer Ritter that I saw we did not have a clear view of the intersection. I knew what I wanted to show him and possibly where we could stand to see this.

Officer Ritter asked me to come back to where he was standing

This was in the middle of the parking lot.

I was definitely and normally upset.

This created a question and answer session that I was trying to avoid, over the details of the intersection that could not be visualized.

I answered the rest of Officer Ritter’s questions to the best of my ability.

I asked Officer Ritter some questions in return.

Confirming that it was better to move the vehicles out of the intersection?

He said yes.

Was it Penn Dot’s responsibility to mark the intersection?

He said yes.

Who notifies Penn Dot when there is something obviously unsafe?

He said it was up to the public, not the police department

I suggested that maybe by pressing this issue a good alternative might be to stop all truck traffic through this intersection.

I was relieved that at least in his opinion, that wasn’t really a practical solution.

While Officer Ritter and I were discussing the problems I saw with the intersection, we witnessed a ten-wheeler traveling south on County Line Rd. making a right turn onto west Reliance Rd., and having to drive his right- side tires over the curb because of a car that was ½ car length over the white line.

After observing this, I made the comment, “That sounded really bad for the sidewalls of that driver’s tires,” and how that can cause premature tire failure. It also causes economic mayhem to the consumer.

Officer Ritter and I had moved to where I wanted him to see what the problem was when the truck had the issue of getting through his turn, his vehicle was much smaller than the one that I operate.

I was trying to explain the problem to Officer Ritter when he was called away and told to go on another police call.

After talking with Officer Ritter, and officer Ritter had left then Detective Floyd came over and lectured me for a third time.

He commented to me how maybe we should just stop trucks from coming through these streets.

That was a classic response I was surprised to hear him make. He made this remark with the typical discrimination toward trucks and their operators that I see and hear from motorist on a regular basis.