Hiring of a Ford Friend And Firing of a OPP Deputy Commissioner is Just Plain Wrong
No matter how you spin the story, the notion that the OPP Commissioner should be a good friend of the Premier of Ontario is just wrong. Independence between the top of the Ontario’s police and the top of the Ontario government must be a fundamental necessity for obvious reasons. The fact that the Deputy OPP Commissioner who complained about that wrong has now been fired is even more wrong.
Collision Reconstruction sometimes enters the whelm of police and politics because some much relies on maintaining persons in the field who are trustworthy. When that trustworthiness comes into question it is a domino that has an effect on the functioning of many people and institutions.
When Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford was allegedly involved in the hiring of his close friend, Superintendent Ron Taverner, as the OPP Commissioner, bypassing more senior members of the OPP, the perception that something dishonest took place should have been recognized as a detriment to public perceptions of both the Ontario government and those in charge of the Commissioner’s hiring process. When the Deputy Commissioner of the OPP, Brad Blair, raised concerns over the hiring process persons should have taken notice. Commissioner Blair was not just an ordinary bloke off the street with an uninformed opinion. His request for a review of that hiring process should have commenced a review. Instead Premier Ford made some accusations about Blair that led to Blair seeking court action. Now Blair has been fired. As if his disagreement with Ford, or his raising a red flag about the hiring process, had nothing to do with the firing. There are many gullible persons but very few would believe that there was no connection. Even if the firing proceeds, the incoming OPP Commissioner will have a large cloud hanging over him, a cloud that cannot exist at the top of the Provincial police force which could be called upon to investigate actions of members of the Provincial Government and possibly even Premier Ford himself. This is reminiscent of the tactics of “the-man-in-the-white-house”, whose constant lies become longer by the day like the nose of some cartoon Pinocchio.
We are not better off when being led by Al Capones while closing our eyes and ears to the warnings of honest men.
Three Incidents That Did Not Happen on Highway 401 East of Chatham
Thousands of vehicles, including heavy trucks carrying valuable cargo were stranded in Chatham yesterday when a series of “Three Incidents” did not occur – or at least from an official news point-of-view.
Thousands of vehicles needed to be re-routed onto local roads as a result of several unexplained incidents that occurred on Highway 401 near Chatham on March 4, 2019.
Social media provided photos showing major destruction between colliding trucks that would most likely cause fatal injuries. Yet nothing has been officially reported by major news groups such as CTV London, The London Free Press or the Windsor Star. A brief summary was mentioned in the Chatham Daily News but no details appeared to be available.
The most comprehensive report appears to have come from Kirk Dickinson, possibly associated with Blackburn News. In his internet article he provided a photo, submitted by Tammy Heather (shown below) that appears to show a transport truck that caught fire.
Photo courtesy of Tammy Heather possibly showing a truck fire that preceded two collisions that occurred on Highway 401 near Chatham.
The quality of Mr. Dickinson’s report leads us to include it below in its entirety:
“Two collisions and a vehicle fire caused some headaches for drivers between Ridgetown and Highgate on Highway 401 on Monday.
The Ontario Provincial Police said a transport truck fully engulfed in flames near the kilometre marker 120 on Highway 401 at around 11:30 a.m. which prompted the closure of the eastbound lanes between Orford Road (Exit 117) and Furnival Road (Exit 129). One lane was reopened to traffic at around 5 p.m.
A collision near Victoria Road Monday afternoon then forced the closure of all eastbound lanes again. Chatham-Kent paramedics said an air ambulance were called to the scene and paramedics are working in collaboration with Ornge for a patient with critical injuries. Further details could not be provided at this time.
A third collision occurred shortly after in the same area, but no details have been released.
The eastbound lanes of Highway 401 between Kent Bridge Rd. and Orford Rd. reopened just after midnight Tuesday morning.”
The problem is that the two subsequent collisions may have occurred due to the closure of Highway 401 and the stoppage of traffic. It is the stoppage of traffic which is crucial to the issue.
Traffic stoppages on Highway 401 are the cause of many major collisions because drivers, particularly truck drivers who travel long distances at constant speed, do not expect them, and their ability to stop in an emergency is reduced compared to other, light vehicles. However, this is not the only cause of such collisions and this is why it is vital that good quality information be made available about those causes. That is why it is crucial that good quality reporting be performed by experienced journalists who know how to report a story. This good reporting cannot occur when journalists are hand-tied and prevented from getting close to an accident site. Good reporting also cannot occur when the news agency’s resources are cut to the bone due to the changes in revenue generation that are taking money away from many official news agencies. Investigative actions by journalists which would normally expose major problems or concerns do not occur resulting in stories that are simply based on what police have provided.
The additional independence of journalists that has been historically present is now in great jeopardy of being taken over by informal social media reporters. Social media has been of benefit in providing independent photos and video of situations such as the example of Tammy Heather above. However discussions on social media can be substantially off base and uninformed, leading much of the public astray. Specifically with motor vehicle collisions, lack of experience and training can lead many social media reporters to conclusions that are not in accordance with basic physics or their lack of understanding of the objective evidence leads them to misinterpret that evidence. Unfortunately that can also be true of professional journalists or even investigators who are presented as “experts” in the field. A proper discussion that involves comments from actual experts can do much to educate the public and get them thinking in the proper direction. But this discussion cannot be had when the reporting of an incident is so scant that not even a fully-experienced expert can improve on the quality of the discussion.
No News Of Highway 401 Incidents East of Chatham
Something happened on Highway 401 east of Chatham, Ontario sometime yesterday, or the day before that. We are not really sure. But something happened. The best that the London Free Press could accomplish on their website was to provide a historical view of Highway 401 – But nothing about the collisions and fire that reportedly occurred.
In response we have provided our own photo of Highway 401 (below) taken in January of 2010. It has nothing to do with the matter we are to discuss but neither does the photo produced by the London Free Press.
This is our example of an informative photo of Highway 401 taken in January of 2010. It is a pretty picture of the smooth asphalt leading up to Highbury Ave. Of course it has absolutely nothing to do with the case being discussed.
The serious fact is that a series of collision events supposedly occurred on Highway 401 east of Chatham, Ontario. There was a fire. There was a tractor-trailer that was involved. And the full highway had to be shut down. However there is nothing available about what happened. Only a single historical photo provided by the London Free Press.
Several decades ago there would have been numerous independent reports on the incident because there used to be numerous independent news organizations doing the reporting. The Chatham Daily Newspaper used to be an independent newspaper and it would undoubtedly have provided an independent news story about what happened. The Windsor Star Newspaper would also have been there. And many others. But not anymore.
Now CTV News, which is part of a conglomerate of news stations that have swallowed up many of the independents, have so far not produced anything about what happened.
The headline of the March 4, 2019 London Free Press article indicated “Fire, crashes force ‘full shutdown’ of eastbound 401 in Chatham -Kent”. Was there an earthquake? A massive nuclear attack by a foreign country? If any of these occurred we would only hear about it on Twitter, Facebook, or something similar. On that note, social media have displayed photos, apparently of the collision site, as shown below.
Social media photo, possibly showing some of the collision events on Hwy 401 east of Chatham.
Social media photo, possibly of the collision site on Hwy 401 east of Chatham.
Social media photo, possibly of the collision site east of Chatham.
What normally happens these days is that the journalists from most news organizations are kept far away from anything of relevance on Highway 401. They will then submit a long distance telephoto view of a collision site, possibly after the most relevant evidence has been destroyed or removed, and they will then report precisely what the official police statement indicated as it was provided to them. But that is not really news reporting. It is just parroting what the police have indicated. That is not to criticize the official news media as they are limited in their abilities to do more than they do. There is no independent fact-gathering or investigation. That is what we have lost in this social media frenzy.
Consequences of Truck Crash Through Hwy 401 Median Barrier Generally Ignored
Do we need fatal consequences before the public is informed of a potential safety problem? Given the lack of reporting of a truck recently crashing through a Highway 401 barrier it would appear so.
This photo shows the median barrier located just west of Mill Road on Highway 401, approximately 15 kilometres south-west of London, Ontario, where an eastbound truck crashed through the barrier sometime before the afternoon of February 28, 2019.
There was no coverage of the incident by official news media other than information from police informing that the westbound lanes of Highway 401 would be closed west of Colonel Talbot Road (Highway 4) to remove a truck out the median. There was no indication when the incident occurred nor were there any photo images of the truck or how it managed to break through the barrier.
The character of the barrier where this breakage occurred appeared to be some form of a “Temporary Concrete Barrier” (TCB). These barriers are used in construction zones often to separate workers and to protect them traffic during road construction. The Ontario Traffic Manual, Book 7, Temporary Conditions describes such barriers as “…commonly used in section lengths of 2.5 to 4.0 m, connected together to form a continuous barrier”. Judging by the length of the slabs shown in the above photo they were likely 4 metres long.
Even if no injuries occurred the fact that there was a penetration through the barrier should be highlighted. These TCBs are used throughout North America and any failure could affect the safety of construction workers, occupants a the striking vehicle and other persons driving in vehicles in the immediate vicinity of the impact.
The strength of any barrier is related to its length. In order to displace the segment thus sustains direct contact, tension is increased along the segments making that displacement progressively more difficult. However, when there is a separation in the barrier that tension is released. It is only the mass of the individual segments that become the obstructions to a striking vehicle’s post-impact motion. As can be seen from the above photo it is clear that the barrier segments separated thus weakening the barrier and resulting in the inappropriate displacement of the separated pieces.
In the photo below it can be seen at the area of displacement of the concrete segments was very local, involving perhaps only four or five segments. The remaining segments remained in their original position. This indicates that the energy was not dissipated along the longer length of the barrier but only by the four or five segments that were directly impacted. Such an outcome is not desirable. In the photo below one can see only of the concrete segments was actually thrown across the median and is resting near the wall of the concrete barrier for westbound traffic.
Separation of the barrier segments meant that they became displaced further from the original position and, if workers had been present, would likely cause significant injury or death to any standing nearby.
The photo below shows a clearer view of the one concrete segment that is lying on its side with its base facing the camera.
View of one of the concrete segments of the barrier that was thrown across the median.
A close-up view is needed of the wall of the struck barrier to determine how and why the separation occurred. The photo below shows a closer view of the struck side of the barrier but nothing of substance can determined without taking a much closer look.
A close examination need to be made of the struck wall of the barrier and its anchorages to see how and why the separation occurred.
Overall, there needs to be greater attention paid to these median impacts and their consequences. Gorski Consulting has mentioned in previous news items on this website that there is a lack of proper reporting of these median impacts and their consequences along Highway 401. At present there is a High Tension Median Barrier being installed in the area of the present impact. Many citizens in the area have concerns about whether such a cable barrier provides sufficient protection from median crossings by heavy trucks. The preference of some in to install a Jersey-type, concrete barrier that is believed to be more capable of redirecting large and heavy trucks. Data on the the real-life performance of a Temporary Concrete Barrier with impact by a heavy truck might provide some education into the discussion. Thus all incidents of impact with the median barrier need to be properly and publicly identified.
Winter Changes in Road Surface Conditions Remain Challenging To Most Drivers
Recent multi-vehicle pile-ups on Highway 400 and 401 in southern Ontario demonstrate the challenges that exist when road surface and weather conditions deteriorate. The extent of those problems is rarely publicized as government agencies that are responsible for roadway maintenance and control risk being criticized for the existence of those conditions. The propaganda of blaming drivers is tied to the conflict of interest of being sued for the existence of substandard road conditions.
Ontario’s Minimum Maintenance Standards (MMS) for roadways were enacted principally by the defendants in potential civil litigation. The MMS generally state that actions to improve the surface conditions of a road do not have to begin until several inches/centimetres of snow have accumulated on that surface. In practice this means that, by the time plows or sanders are sent out, there will likely have been several hours of dangerous conditions existing on most roadways. This in the time when drivers are caught by surprise as surface conditions deteriorate unexpectedly.
There may be many combinations of ice, snow and bare pavement on any roadway at any particular time. The traction provided by these conditions can vary greatly. Given a bare pavement a driver applying maximum braking from an initial speed of 80 km/h could bring a typical passenger car to stop in about 36 metres or less. The same vehicle being braked on snow could stop in about 100 metres. And the same vehicle braked on ice would require over 500 metres to stop. These values are based on estimated coefficient-of-friction values of 0.7, 0.25 and 0.05 respectively. The lower the coefficient of friction the less traction is provided. These differences are very large. However, not all surfaces are fully bare, snow-covered or ice-covered. Often surfaces contain a mixture of all three conditions.
The road surface in this photo obviously contains snow but do the dark areas contain bare pavement or are they icy? While travelling at highway speed it is not easy to be sure as the surface may appear blurry.
So a road surface that is predominantly bare may contain patches of snow or ice. But how would a driver be able to tell what level of traction the surface might provide? A braking test could be done but not in the middle of a busy expressway. A reasonable estimate for such road surface might be in the range of 0.6 and result in a braking distance of 44 metres from an initial speed of 80 km/h. But a slight difference in composition of snow and ice might bring the coefficient-of-friction down to 0.4, with a resultant braking distance of about 63 metres. That is a difference in braking distance of almost 20 metres. Converted into the scenario of a bare road surface a braking distance difference of 20 metres would be the difference between travelling 80 km/h and 99 km/h.
And what if we have even worse road surface conditions? What if a driver is travelling along a highway in rain and the temperature is steadily dropping from just above freezing to below freezing. With steady high-speed traffic the wheel track areas of the surface might remain wet due to the heat caused by friction between the tires and the surface. But just outside of those wheel tracks, where there is no such heating taking place, the road surface begins to turn to ice. A driver looking at the reflections coming from a wet road surface has difficulty detecting that a similar level of reflection takes place from an icy road surface. A wet road surface might possess a coefficient-of-friction of about 0.5 but the icy surface might contain levels of 0.1 or 0.05. What would happen if the driver needed to change the vehicle’s lateral position in the lane due to some form of traffic disturbance ahead? At 80 km/h the vehicle travelling on the wet surface would be braked to a stop in about 50 metres, whereas we already indicated earlier that the same braking action could lead to a braking distance of over 500 metres.
A reflection of the red traffic signal on the pavement in this photo shows that the roadway may be wet or icy. That distinction can be difficult to make. Yet failure in a correct identification could lead to dire consequences.
The point of this discussion is to demonstrate that driving in winter where rain or snow may be falling, and where there are combinations of wet, snowy and icy conditions results in a challenging safety environment. There will always be the segment of drivers who are reckless and inattentive thus causing collisions regardless of the weather conditions. But there will also be a segment who are driving in a reasonable manner but whose expectations are violated through no fault of their own. This is not only because the traction conditions of a road surface are difficult to read but also because those conditions change. That change may not only be related to changing weather. Changes may occur due to plowing and sanding actions that are terminated, disrupted or occur only on partial areas of a highway.
In this example, road salt has been applied in the vicinity of an intersection on the basis that such maintenance is of a higher priority at such locations. However the termination of that maintenance beyond the intersection means that the road surface could change from being wet to icy without warning.
While in many instances plowing, salting and sanding actions are deemed helpful, they also create differences in road surface conditions in areas where those actions are terminated or are incomplete. A road segment that receives a fresh coating of salt may seem safe to travel at higher speed. Yet, when that salting is terminated at an unexpected location a road surface may become icy without any prior warning. Similarly plowing actions that are terminated or are incomplete result in unexpected changes to road surface conditions.
In this example, plows have cleared this section of Highway 401 but have failed to clear the snow on the exit ramp. Such changes in surface condition can be unexpected.
Those who are responsible for the maintenance of roadways are often in a conflict of interest. Those who are direct employees of a municipality, or the Ontario government, are not free to discuss the problems that may exist because this could lead to claims from civil litigation against their employers. Similarly, those contracted to do maintenance work for municipalities and the Provincial government may be held liable if problems are revealed with road conditions that they are responsible to correct. Even police share that conflict of interest as they receive their marching orders down from a chain of command that, at its peak, is operated by the government that could be held liable for road safety problems. The primary purpose of many official agencies becomes a case of deflecting responsibility for road safety problems rather than correcting them.
In this milieu of complicated road surface changes, vast differences in driving habits, vested interests, and confusing propaganda the target of improving public safety continues to shift in the winds with striking a bull’s eye being more a matter of luck rather than well-planned intellectual strategy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.