Effective today, Las Vegas Metro’s new policy is that they don’t respond to non-injury traffic accidents. From what I saw this weekend, that
might present some problems.
Yesterday I saw the two drivers of these vehicles not long after this accident happened. No one was hurt, but it sure looked like someone was about to be.
When I turned into the parking lot and saw two young women standing in the street, shaking their fingers in each other faces, heatedly exchanging words, and furiously making phone calls on their cell phones, I slowed down to see if a fist fight was coming next.
When I turned into the parking lot and saw two young women standing in the street, shaking their fingers in each other faces, heatedly exchanging words, and furiously making phone calls on their cell phones, I slowed down to see if a fist fight was coming next.
I stopped to fuel my car and watched from a distance as the
yelling/finger pointing/phone calling continued.
I continued to my next stop, and when I came out twenty
minutes later, I saw flares and a crowd of people. A fire truck had stopped and
was blocking the lane the fender bender was in.
Next, I went grocery shopping.
An hour later, I came out of the store and was shocked to see the same cars, in the same position, only now there were several people standing
around, in what looked like opposing camps (apparently all those phone calls
were to family and friends)… and a motorcycle officer.
What’s going to happen now that Metro won’t be responding to
non-injury accidents like this?
Do we just let them duke it out in the street?
This is one of those
times I wish I still worked for Metro. I’d love to read that report.
What do you think of
Metro’s new policy on non-injury traffic accidents?
I think it's going to get way worse before it gets better. In my opinion, one of the reasons people stay reasonable is because they know that someone is coming and their account of the accident will be heard. Without someone rational to step in, angry people do just what you described. It escalates. Not only that, an area was blocked that could have been cleaned up within the hour.
ReplyDeleteWanna bet that people call the police and say they THINK someone is hurt just to get a cop there?
Well, just think: on Sunday, when I saw this all go down, it was Metro's last day of responding to non-injury accidents and it still took probably 2 hours (or more) for that fender bender to be cleared away. How long it will take when there are no police there? Yup, I'd say there's going to be a lot of "injuries" now that the new policy is in effect.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK the police doesn't come out to traffic accidents at all, unless someone has been injured. Here we have the procedure of exchanging insurance details with each other, name and phone number. Off you go, it's your problem to get your car taken home if you can't drive it (hopefully you have breakdown cover). Then the procedure is such that you ring your insurance company and give a statement. The other party does the same. Then the insurance companies argue it out. Eventually you get a call to say that they have (and this is most common!) decided they don't know who is at fault and you are both at fault and the claim is split 50-50. Doesn't matter how many witnesses you have, or if you know you were right and the other person wrong. It's always that way. I think they have become lazy and can't be bothered anymore.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I've now also heard that the police won't even attend burglaries in homes either. It's all just an insurance claim away.