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Miscellaneous

: Outside Counsel

By Bill Altreuter

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Car 1 ran a red light at Pearl & Tupper. Car 2, eastbound on Tupper, was spun around and ended up facing north on the opposite side of Pearl. I've had better afternoons, let me tell you. I am unharmed, but I fear for the Volvo. I got over the terror part pretty quickly, and although I was furious I managed to contain it, but I am still annoyed with the Buffalo Police Department. As soon as my car came to rest and I shook off the stunned sensation-- less than a minute, I'd say, and probably closer to about 20 seconds-- I called 911. (As I did so I watched the light, which had been green for traffic on Tupper the whole time, turn red.) My phone's call log reflects that this call was made at 3:00 PM. I made three more calls over the course of the next hour and a half, and walked over to the precinct, a block away, before the cops arrived at the scene. This is incredible to me. Was the Riddler on a crime spree downtown? What the hell, Buffalo cops? Three drove by! (So did about four tow trucks, opportunistic bastards.)

When the cop who responded to the scene responded to the scene he (a) took no statement; and (b) failed to document the scene photographically or by observation. This is an intersection accident with a question of lights. Scuff marks are significant. Statements are significant. Bernard Norman, who was lost and looking for the Peace Bridge, said to me when I climbed out of the car, "I didn't see the light". Over the course of the hour and a half that it took the cop to get to the scene this statement gradually morphed into, "It must have just changed". It's not a substantially better story, but I will bet a doughnut that neither statement shows up in the police report.

Full post as published by Outside Counsel on October 09, 2010 (boomark / email).