Editorial – It’s something that commonly happens at collision scenes.
It’s something that happens on town roadways and on county road ways.
Maybe not everytime there is a collision, but definitely more than what it should.
Can you guess what it is?
It’s driver’s who go around barricades or police vehicles and drive on a closed road.
And. It’s getting worse.
Sooner or later, someone will be hurt or worse.
At a collision on Elgin Street in Cobourg, a Cobourg Police cruiser was set up to block both eastbound lanes at Frei Street.
The collision started on Elgin Street near Frei Street but came to a conclusion at Elgin and Ontario Street.
Two people were injured, and emergency personnel on site were very busy.
For anyone who knows the area, the intersection at Elgin and Ontario Street is a very busy one.
Emergency service workers almost have to have their head on a swivel along with trying to help victims, people involved in the collision, stabilize vehicles and many, many other things.
In this instance, because another vehicle was involved near Frei Street, emergency workers had also to attend at that location.
So the scene was rather “busy.”
But the last thing emergency responders need is to deal with people who seem to not know that a police cruiser is entirely blocking the eastbound lanes.
We get people are impatient. It’s a pain. I’m just going a short distance. There are many, many excuses.
It’s like people have the mindset they must go in a straight line. Anything else will throw them off the balance beam of life.
While walking up to the scene of the first collision there was approximately four vehicles that literally drove around the police cruiser that was blocking both eastbound lanes and carried on eastward.
In fact, they had to go into oncoming lanes to drive eastbound.
As I was walking up, I just had to ask.
Not blaming any particular group of people, most times that I’ve witnessed this happen over the years, it’s mainly been elderly drivers. But by no means does that mean other drivers don’t do it.
But today, I asked two drivers a simple question – why?
One man stated that he was following another driver who did it. But when I asked if he would follow them if they drove in the lake – there was no answer.
Another driver said she was “only” going to the apartment building at the southeast corner of Ontario and Elgin.
I’d never advise any driver what to do or not to do in that situation they’ve got themselves in – but I did tell her if she could be so kind as to avoid the two firefighters walking up the roadway it would be appreciated.
She immediately told me that I was the rear part of a lower persons anatomy and proceeded.
Aside from the safety concerns – each and every driver that went around a fully marked police cruiser and headed east on Elgin Street was driving through a crime scene and they could be charged.
A number of them actually drove over debris that was on the road.
So please, when you see a emergency vehicle that is blocking a road.
It’s not there to cause other driver’s grief or frustration.
It’s there for a reason.
To protect evidence and more importantly to protect the lives of emergency workers on scene.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
