NO MISTAKES THIS TIME AROUND: After the Fennica Fiasco and the BP Disasters, BSEE Inspectors Watching Shell Drilling Activities 24/7

BSEE inspector on board Polar Pioneer

By MarEx 2015-08-07 11:58:30 

Shell has started its drilling operations in the Arctic and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is keeping very close tabs on their activities.

BSEE Inspectors arrived in the Chukchi Sea to ensure the oil major is in compliance with federal regulations and safety standards. The BSEE will oversee Shell’s drilling operations 24/7 in perpetuity. Two inspectors are onsite at the drill sites. One is onboard the Polar Pioneer, a semi-submersible drilling unit, at Burger J. The other is with the Noble Discoverer, a drillship, at Burger V.

Shell’s Arctic drilling operations were approved on July 22, but they included restrictions. BSEE’s primary focus is that the two rigs do not drill simultaneously. While the requirement was not to have operations with 15 miles of each other due to walruses in the area. The Shell rigs are actually only nine miles thus the inspectors oversight.

Additionally, Shell is not permitted to drill into oil-bearing zones until the capping stack is on-site and deployable within 24 hours. Delivery of Shell’s capping stack was delayed because of damage to the M/V Fennica on July 3.

  The capping stack is currently in transit to Chukchi aboard the Fennica.

Shell will be permitted to submit an application to modify these restrictions upon receipt of its capping stack. 

BSEE was established in 2011 to replace the Minerals Management Service (MMS) because of the lack of oversight prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

180,000 gallons of brine wastewater spilled off-site at Sampson Resources facility near Crosby, North Dakota

Brine spill reported in Divide County


By Forum News Service on Aug 6, 2015 at 6:14 p.m.





CROSBY, N.D. – More than 4,000 barrels of saltwater were spilled in the northwest corner of North Dakota, the state Department of Health reported.


No waterways have been affected by the spill, which occurred about seven miles northwest of Crosby in Divide County. 


Sampson Resources reported that 4,260 barrels of brine, a waste product of oil and gas production, was spilled off-site and 225 barrels have been recovered. 


The health department will work with the company on a remediation plan.

Couple walking dog at night struck by car, woman dies in Salem, Oregon

 

AUGUST 7, 2015
SALEM, Ore. –  Police say a 62-year-old woman walking her dog was struck and killed by a driver in Salem Thursday night.

Officials said she and her husband were out walking their dog around 9 p.m. when they were hit at the intersection of Pine Street and Maple Avenue.

Police say the couple was walking across Pine in a poorly lit section of the road when a westbound Lincoln Town Car hit them and their dog.

The driver, 70-year-old Delbert Gossen, stopped at the scene and is cooperating with police.

The victim, later identified as 62-year-old Caroline Storm, died on the way to the hospital.

Her husband was struck, but is expected to survive his injuries. The dog was taken to an animal hospital; no word on its condition.

Police locate tractor-trailer truck that hit, killed bicyclist in the Back Bay, Massachusetts

Police locate tractor-trailer truck that hit, killed bicyclist in the Back Bay, Massachusetts

By Steve Annear and Brian MacQuarrie Globe Staff 

August 07, 2015

The tractor-trailer that struck and killed a cyclist in the Back Bay during the morning rush on Friday has been located out of state, and its driver is being questioned, Boston police said.

Authorities said Friday evening that no charges had been filed, but that the investigation was continuing into a collision that left a woman cyclist fatally injured about 7 a.m. at the busy intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Beacon Street.

The truck, carrying a long flatbed loaded with steel, had been making a right turn onto Beacon Street and did not stop after the collision. The woman, in her 30s, was not identified pending notification of family.

“It’s a very, very tragic situation,’’ said Boston police Superintendent Bernard O’Rourke.

He described the tractor-trailer as having a red sleeper cab with chrome air horns on top of it, white letter on the cab, and with some damage to the grill.




He said the truck driver may not have seen the bicyclist as the driver made the turn. Police have not formally classified the incident as a hit-and-run, but O’Rourke stressed the investigation is just starting. He said surveillance cameras in the neighborhood captured the incident.

Police later posted an image of the vehicle on the department’s official Twitter account.

Aymen Rajeh, owner of Quality Mart, which sits on the opposite corner of where the fatal crash occurred, said he has seen “way too many’’ crashes at this location over the years.

“Way, way too many,” he said. “I don’t know what it is about this intersection, but people are constantly getting hit — pedestrians, bikers — some type of accident.”

Rajeh, who has owned Quality Mart since 1992, didn’t see the crash, but his cousin, Chafik Hamadeh, a clerk at the store, was one of the first to walk up to the victim before police arrived.

Hamadeh described a grisly scene, and said the female victim was unresponsive.

“Her eyes were wide open...She was a young girl,’’ he said. “Maybe younger than me. You never know when your day comes.”

Zach Cloyd, who lives next door to the scene, said he stopped biking home from work because this particular intersection is dangerous.

“That exact corner, waiting at that corner, I’ve had someone almost hit me as they were turning right,” he said.

In the aftermath of the crash, there was a bicycle with a crushed handlebar lying at the intersection and a helmet lying next to the bike.

Police put up crime scene tape across the intersection on Beacon Street heading to Kenmore Square, and traffic began backing up over the Massachusetts Avenue bridge into Cambridge.

While police were investigating at the scene, two vehicles collided with each other, but no injuries were reported.

See more photos of the truck:



Boston Police





Boston Police

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@glo

Man injured at West Boca Raton, Florida construction site after falling 30 feet from bucket of crane truck

AUGUST 7, 2015

Man injured in West Boca construction accident
By Kate Jacobson Sun Sentinel

Boca Raton, Florida

Man injured at West Boca construction site after falling 30 feet from crane, officials say


A man was injured after falling 30 feet from a crane at a West Boca construction site, officials said.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue officials said at about 2 p.m. on Friday, a man fell from the bucket of a crane truck at a construction site near the corner of Lakeridge Boulevard and Yamato Road.

He was transported to a local hospital and his condition has not been released.

This story will be updated. Check back for more information.


Bucket Truck Accidents, Electrocutions & Deaths

Bucket trucks is the generic term often used to describe these versatile truck mounted aerial buckets used on electrical power lines, cable lines, telephone lines, painting, tree trimming,  construction, erection of signs and equipment and hundreds of other daily uses. 

Leading manufacturers of bucket trucks, aerial lift trucks and telescoping aerial lifts include ALC, Altec Bucket Trucks, Duralift Dur-A-Lift Telescopic Aerial Lifts, Elliott HiReach telescoping aerial lifts, ETI - Equipment Technology, LLC, Lift All aerial lift trucks, Pitman Utility Products - Pelican PL Series of lift trucks & bucket trucks, Terex Telelect Hi Ranger and Versalift bucket trucks.

Often these aerial lift or bucket trucks are rented on a daily basis and often without sufficient training, warnings or instruction as to safe use.  Many of the owned and rented bucket trucks have maintenance issues, lack safety equipment, lack warnings and some are just worn out. When a bucket truck has not been properly maintained, the hand controls can stick or fail to properly control the movement of the bucket, move without warning causing sudden movement, falls and even collapse of the articulated arm.

When the controls for the bucket control operator are not working as designed, especially when the bucket truck and operator are near high voltage electrical powerlines, then catastrophic injuries are waiting to happen. 

Bucket truck contact with a overhead power line can lead to severe electrical burns and death. Direct contact with an overhead power line by a bucket truck operator or even a indirect contact with a energized power line through a tree branch or other contact can kill bucket truck operators and others near the bucket truck. A proper working bucket truck is essential to operator and worker safety. Anything else is unacceptable.



Quite often, workers fall from the bucket of the truck-mounted crane because they do not wear the proper safety harness, just as the above accident shows.


//--------------------///

Bucket truck fall

August 10, 2015

A man is said to have fallen from a utility truck in Boca Raton, Florida, on Friday, while working on a building.
The man was apparently working on a building in the city when he is reported to have fallen from the platform, although the only photo that we have received suggests that the boom might have come done suddenly, or suffered a serious impact.
The man was rushed to hospital and is being treated for his injuries, we have no news on his condition. We will update this when we learn more.

The damage indicates the platform suffered a serious impact

California Statewide Fire Summary - Friday, August 7, 2015

California Statewide Fire Summary

Friday, August 7, 2015

Over 10,000 firefighters continue to make good progress on 17 remaining active wildfires burning in California. Today the risk of dry thunderstorms and dry lightning continues to elevate the fire danger. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of Northern California due to potential dry lightning and gusty winds. View the map. In the past 24 hours there have been several thousand lightning strikes, especially across the Sierra and Central Coast. Lightning sparks may smolder for several hours or days before they get enough heat and energy to spread into a wildfire. This means the risk for wildfires continues even after the storms have passed.

With fire activity remaining high, CAL FIRE is asking all residents and visitors to California to be extra cautious in the outdoors. Nearly 95 percent of all wildfires that CAL FIRE responds to are caused by the activity of people. One Less Spark this weekend means One Less wildfire. Learn more at www.ReadyForWildfire.org.

Fires of Interest:

 **CAL FIRE Incidents**

Rocky Fire, Lake, Colusa & Yolo County (more info…)

East of Lower Lake

*69,600 acres – 45% contained

*Many evacuations have been lifted

Humboldt Lightning Fires, Humboldt County

Throughout Humboldt County

*75 fires totaling 4,358 acres – 35% contained

*Evacuations lifted in the Blocksburg

Lowell Fire, Nevada County (more info…)

You Bet area, west of Alta

*2,304 acres – 95% contained

**Unified Command Incidents**

Fork Complex, Trinity County (more info…)

US Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest / CAL FIRE

South of Hyampom

*15,184 acres – 9% contained

**Federal Incidents**

River Complex, Trinity County (more info…)

US Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest

New River Drainage, near Denny

*12,524 acres – 8%

South Complex, Trinity County (more info…)

US Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest

Near Hyampom, south of Hwy 299

*15,026 acres – 3% contained

Route Complex, Humboldt & Trinity County (more info…)

US Forest Service – Six Rivers National Forest

West of Hyampom

*15,862 acres – 10% contained

Mad River Complex, Trinity County

US Forest Service – Six Rivers National Forest

Near Ruth Lake

*17,041 acres – 20% contained

Dodge Fire, Lassen County (more info…)

Bureau of Land Management – Northern California District

*11,400 acres – 30% contained

Mendocino National Forest Lightning Fires, Mendocino County (more info…)

U.S. Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest

*15 fires totaling 204 acres

Nickowitz Fire, Del Norte County (more info…)

U.S. Forest Service – Six Rivers National Forest

*210 acres – 45% contained

Gasquet Complex, Del Norte County (more info…)

U.S. Forest Service – Six Rivers National Forest

on the Gasquet Ranger District

*9 fires totaling 1,000 acres – 2% containment

Cabin Fire, Tulare County (more info…)

US Forest Service - Sequoia National Forest

8 miles northeast of Camp Nelson

*4,733 acres

Rough Fire, Fresno County  

US Forest Service - Sierra National Forest

2 miles north of the Kings Wild and Scenic River

*600 acres

Willow Fire, Madera County (more info…)

US Forest Service - Sierra National Forest

Southeast of Bass Lake

*5,702 acres – 95% contained

Chorro Fire, Ventura County (more info…)

U.S. Forest Service – Los Padres National Forest

North of Ojai

*282 acres – 95% contained

Washington Fire, Alpine County (more info…)

US Forest Service – Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

South of Markleeville

*17,790 acres – 99% contained

Deer Horn 2 Fire, Humboldt County  

Bureau of Indian Affairs – Hoopa Fire Department

Deerhorn Ridge in Hoopa

*125 acres - 100% contained

Frog Fire, Modoc County (more info…)

US Forest Service – Modoc National Forest

Southwest of Lava Campground

*4,860 acres – 100% contained

YOU LIE, YOU LOSE: Jerry Previlon, 28, of Irvington and Yasmeen Louis, 21, of Union Charged with Staging Accident, then Seeking more than $25,000 in Insurance Payouts

TRENTON, NJ – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced that an Essex County man and his former girlfriend were indicted today for allegedly orchestrating a staged automobile accident in Newark in 2012 and later seeking more than $25,000 in payouts for medical treatment from their insurer.

Jerry Previlon, 28, of Irvington and Yasmeen Louis, 21, of Union, were charged by a state grand jury with second-degree insurance fraud, second-degree conspiracy, third-degree attempted theft by deception and third-degree tampering with public records or information.

“The co-conspirators in this case allegedly sought to cheat their insurer by organizing a staged automobile accident that not only endangered their own well-being, but also that of any drivers, passengers or pedestrians who may have been nearby that day,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “Staged accidents are both a dangerous and costly con.”

“As insurance companies respond to staged accidents and pay out the claims associated with them, premiums for law abiding drivers will increase,” said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi. “Drivers cannot participate in a fair marketplace as long as criminals seek to defraud the insurance industry.”

According to the indictment, in September 2012, Louis was driving a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix, with Previlon riding in the passenger seat and two other individuals riding in the back when the car was struck by another vehicle in Newark. According to Louis’ sworn statement to OIFP investigators, the unidentified driver of the other vehicle, who Louis stated was an acquaintance of Previlon, then exited his vehicle, entered a third vehicle driven by another unidentified driver, and fled the scene of the accident. Over the next several months following the crash, Previlon and Louis each allegedly filed 28 claims that totaled approximately $25,100 with Liberty Mutual for various medical treatments at South Orange Trauma Center.

Louis admitted in her sworn statement that the accident was staged and that she had been directed by Previlon to the location of the accident. Additionally, she told investigators that Previlon had purchased the car approximately six weeks before the accident, but had directed her to sign the title in her name and had her insure the Pontiac with Liberty Mutual. According to Louis, Previlon also paid the premiums on the insurance policy through Louis by having her deposit the exact amount of the premium into a checking account. Previlon then allegedly explained to Louis that the Pontiac was going to be involved in an accident that he had planned, and told Louis that the accident would result in financial gain. Previlon also allegedly informed Louis that she would need to go to doctors and should see a lawyer for potential money through a lawsuit for injuries sustained in the accident.

The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.

Deputy Attorney General Michael Clore presented the case to the grand jury. Detectives Wendy Berg, Grace Rocca, Matt Armstrong and Erin Lukowiak coordinated the investigation with assistance from analyst Bethany Shussler.

Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll‑free hotline at 1‑877‑55‑FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.

THE DEADLY ROADS: More than 5,000 bystanders and passengers have been killed in police car chases since 1979, and tens of thousands more were injured as officers repeatedly pursued drivers at high speeds and in hazardous conditions, often for minor infractions

A death a day from police chases

Running red lights at 100-mph plus

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect first name for Maj. Travis Yates

More than 5,000 bystanders and passengers have been killed in police car chases since 1979, and tens of thousands more were injured as officers repeatedly pursued drivers at high speeds and in hazardous conditions, often for minor infractions, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

The bystanders and the passengers in chased cars account for nearly half of all people killed in police pursuits from 1979 through 2013, USA TODAY found. Most bystanders were killed in their own cars by a fleeing driver.

Police across the USA chase tens of thousands of people each year -- usually for traffic violations or misdemeanors -- often causing drivers to speed away recklessly. Recent cases show the danger of the longstanding police practice of chasing minor offenders.

A 25-year-old New Jersey man was killed July 18 by a driver police chased for running a red light.

A 63-year-old Indianapolis grandmother was killed June 7 by a driver police chased four miles for shoplifting.

A 60-year-old federal worker was killed March 19 near Washington, D.C., by a driver police chased because his headlights were off.

"The police shouldn't have been chasing him. That was a big crowded street," said Evelyn Viverette, 83, mother of federal worker Charlie Viverette. "He wouldn't have hit my son if the police hadn't been chasing him."

Nearly every day, someone is killed during a high-speed chase between police and a suspect.

Some police say drivers who flee are suspicious, and chasing them maintains law and order. "When crooks think they can do whatever they choose, that will just fester and foster more crimes," said Milwaukee Police Detective Michael Crivello, who is president of the city's police union.

Many in law enforcement, including the Justice Department, have recognized the danger of high-speed chases and urge officers to avoid or abort pursuits that endanger pedestrians, nearby motorists or themselves. At least 139 police have been killed in chases, federal records show.

"A pursuit is probably the most unique and dangerous job law enforcement can do," said Tulsa Police Maj. Travis Yates, who runs a national pursuit-training academy.

The Justice Department called pursuits "the most dangerous of all ordinary police activities" in 1990 and urged police departments to adopt policies listing exactly when officers can and cannot pursue someone. "Far more police vehicle chases occur each year than police shootings," the department said.

Police chases have killed nearly as many people as justifiable police shootings, according to government figures, which are widely thought to under count fatal shootings. Yet chases have escaped the national attention paid to other potentially lethal police tactics.

Despite the Justice Department's warning, the number of chase-related deaths in 2013 was higher than the number in 1990 — 322 compared to 317, according to records of the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which analyzes all fatal motor-vehicle crashes.

Many police departments still let officers make on-the-spot judgments about whether to chase based on their perception of a driver's danger to the public. Officers continue to violate pursuit policies concerning when to avoid or stop a chase, police records show. And federally funded high-tech systems that would obviate chases, such as vehicle tracking devices, are undeveloped or rarely used due to cost.

While cities such as Milwaukee and Orlando allow chases only of suspected violent felons, many departments let officers chase anyone if they decide the risk of letting someone go free outweighs the risk of a pursuit.

 

At least 11,506 people, including 6,300 fleeing suspects, were killed in police chases from 1979 through 2013, most recent year for which NHTSA records are available. That's an average of 329 a year — nearly one person a day.

But those figures likely understate the actual death toll because NHTSA uses police reports to determine if a crash was chase-related, and some reports do not disclose that a chase occurred.

Kansas, Michigan and Minnesota state records all show more chase-related deaths than NHTSA shows for those states.

"It's an embarrassment," said Geoffrey Alpert of the University of South Carolina, a leading researcher on police pursuits who has done numerous Justice Department studies. NHTSA records "are the only national database we have on these fatalities, and it's been consistently wrong."

The number of innocent bystanders killed is impossible to pinpoint because hundreds of NHTSA's records fail to show whether a victim was killed in a car fleeing police or in a car that happened to be hit during a chase.

Analyzing each fatal crash, USA TODAY determined that at least 2,456 bystanders were killed, although the death toll could be as high as 2,750. The newspaper found that 55% of those killed were drivers fleeing police. They ranged from armed-robbery suspects to a 10-year-old boy chased as he drove a pick-up truck 85 mph on a county road before hitting a tree, killing himself and his 7-year-old passenger.

Injuries are even harder to count because NHTSA keeps records of only fatal crashes.

However, records from six states show that 17,600 people were hurt in chases from 2004 through 2013 — an average of 1,760 injuries a year in those states, which make up 24% of the U.S. population.

Those numbers suggest that chases nationwide may have injured 7,400 people a year — more than 270,000 people since 1979.

The uncertainty about the death and injury tolls obscures the danger of police chases, said Jonathan Farris, who became an advocate for pursuit safety after his son Paul, 23, was killed in 2007 by a motorist being chased for an illegal driving maneuver. "If the public understood the number of pursuits that were going on and the number of people who were being injured or killed, there would be a much better dialogue as to what types of crimes should be pursued," Farris said.

Minor infractions trigger chases

"It could have been Ted Bundy"

Although police-camera footage often depicts the drama of squad cars racing after motorists, most chases begin benignly, with an attempted traffic stop. And most end quickly — 76% were over within five minutes, according to records of tens of thousands of chases in California.

California records of 63,500 chases from 2002 through 2014 show that:

• More than 89% were for vehicle-code violations, including speeding, vehicle theft, reckless driving, and 4,898 instances of a missing license plate or an expired registration
• Just 5% were an attempt to nab someone suspected of a violent crime, usually assault or robbery; 168 sought a known murder suspect
• Nearly 1,000 were for safety violations that endangered a driver only, including 850 drivers not wearing a seat belt and 23 motorcycle riders not wearing a helmet
• In 90 instances, police chased someone for driving too slowly

"We don't know that the person in that car is just speeding or just had a headlight out ... [or] if they had just committed a felony," said Joseph Farrow, commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, which chased 14,628 motorists from 2007 through 2014, resulting in 4,052 crashes, 2,198 injuries and 103 deaths.

That's a 28% crash rate and a 15% injury rate.

Jonathan Farris lost his son Paul Farris on Memorial Day weekend in 2007 by a fleeing driver being chased by a Massachusetts State Trooper. The offending driver was being chased for making an illegal u-turn. (USA NEWS, USA TODAY)

Minnesota safety researchers found in 2008 that 35% to 40% of chases resulted in a crash.

"There's no question that when you're engaging in a chase, you're engaging in something that can turn out many ways, and many are bad outcomes," said John Firman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, whose survey of 17,000 chases nationally since 2001 shows that 92% began for a traffic violation, misdemeanor or non-violent felony such as car theft.

Police often suspect fleeing drivers are wanted for a serious offense. And they dislike letting a violator get away. During a chase police can be overcome by "a need to 'win' and make the arrest," which blinds them to the danger they are helping create, a 2010 FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin reported.

"These are folks who are proud and who see their job as going out and putting the bad guy in jail," said Assistant Chief Randall Blankenbaker of the Dallas Police Department, which sharply restricts chases.

When police in Beech Grove, Ind., were called June 8 at 8:07 a.m. about a shoplifting from a Walmart, they pulled behind the suspect's car in a parking lot and flashed their emergency lights. Driver Matthew Edmonds allegedly sped off on a busy thoroughfare, with police chasing for four miles until stopping because of the danger. Moments later, Edmonds allegedly sped through an intersection and hit a pick-up truck driven by 63-year-old Donna Niblock, killing her and seriously injuring her daughter and 11-year-old grandson.

The chase followed department guidelines, which allow "high-risk" pursuits for drivers suspected of property crimes, Beech Grove Detective Capt. Robert Mercuri said.

"We don't know who may be in that vehicle. We don't know if they have somebody tied up in the back seat," Mercuri said. "It could have been Ted Bundy."

Few drivers fleeing police are wanted felons, according to statistics and research. Most committed minor offenses and "made very bad decisions to flee," a 2008 paper by the Police Foundation said.

In Pennsylvania, records of 32,000 chases since 1997 show that the most common charge against fleeing drivers was theft, including stealing or illegally possessing the car they were driving. The other most-frequent charges were resisting arrest, underage drinking and misdemeanor assault.

A Justice Department-funded 1998 study found after interviewing fleeing drivers that 32% drove off because they were in a stolen car, 27% because they had a suspended driver's license, 27% wanted to avoid arrest and 21% because they were driving drunk.

"Overwhelmingly, someone is fleeing because they've got a minor warrant, their car isn't insured, they've had too much to drink," said Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, who sharply restricted his department's pursuits in 2010 after four bystanders were killed in a three-month span.

For more serious offenses such as stealing a vehicle, "the sanctions imposed by courts nationwide for merely stealing a car don't justify anybody taking any risk," Flynn said.

On June 15, 2012, at 3:20 p.m., Austin, Texas, police chased a driver in a stolen pickup truck at 90 to 95 mph onto a highway and along a frontage road lined with service stations and fast-food restaurants. At an intersection, the truck slammed into a Mitsubishi driven by James Williford, 32, killing him instantly.

Driver Reynaldo Hernandez was convicted of murdering Williford and sentenced to 55 years. The Austin police chief cleared the two officers, saying they followed the policy of the department, which had been cracking down on auto thefts.

Esther Seoanes lost her best friend, her husband James Williford in 2012 by a fleeing driver being chased by the Austin Police Department. She is now involved with Pursuit Safety a group advocating for changes in police pursuit policies. (USA NEWS, USA TODAY)

Williford's widow Esther Seoanes holds the officers responsible for deciding to chase a stolen car.

"My husband," Seoanes said, "was essentially killed for a stolen vehicle."
"The moment the officer crossed over the median with lights and sirens and started the pursuit, he (Hernandez) immediately turned into one of those criminals and suspects who doesn't care about anything," said Seoanes, executive director of PursuitSAFETY, a nonprofit seeking to reduce chase-related deaths. "Drivers, they don't care about anyone's safety, and so the burden falls on the police to protect the public."

Austin police declined to comment due to Seoanes' pending lawsuit against them.

Some relatives of killed bystanders don't hold police responsible for deaths in chases.

"I'm not blaming the police," Nicole Jackson of Detroit said after a driver who allegedly had a gun sped away from police on June 24 and killed Jackson's granddaughter and grandson, age 3 and 6, while they were riding scooters near their home. "I'm blaming the person who did all this."

High-risk chases include teens, icy roads

Motorcyclists often get killed

Chases are inherently dangerous because of their speed, and police often compound the danger by chasing drivers in hazardous conditions.

At least 3,440 people were killed in crashes when a driver was fleeing at 25 mph or more over the speed limit, NHTSA records show. The actual death toll from such high-speed chases is likely much higher, but is not known because only half of NHTSA's records show a fleeing driver's speed and the speed limit.

Particularly dangerous are chases on wet or icy roads, and pursuits of inexperienced and risk-prone teen-age drivers and of motorcyclists, who have little crash protection.

In Michigan over the past decade, 74% of motorcyclists fleeing police were killed, injured or possibly injured when they crashed, state records show. Just 18% of chased car drivers were killed, injured or possibly injured in a crash.

Wreckage of the chased vehicle involved in a fatal high speed puruit that killed Cathedral City officer Jermaine Gibson, and injured two others in Palm Springs, March 18, 2011.
(Photo: Kevin Thomas)

Police departments routinely warn officers about hazardous road conditions and high-risk drivers. Some bar motorcycle cops from pursuits because of the danger if an officer crashes.

Yet nearly one-third of the police-chase deaths involved one of those three high-risk factors, USA TODAY found.

That includes 1,132 motorcyclists who were killed while being chased. More than half — 589 — were not wearing a helmet.

"Most police departments don't allow their motorcycles to be in pursuits, so why would you chase one?" said Alpert, the South Carolina researcher. "Motorcycle drivers are either going to get away or they're going to get killed."

Michigan State Police must consider "road and weather conditions" in deciding whether to chase, and can pursue only people suspected of a "life-threatening felony" or drivers who pose "an immediate threat to the safety of the public." The policy cautions, "It is better to either delay the arrest or abandon the pursuit than to needlessly injure or kill innocent people."

The Michigan State Police have been involved in 44 deadly chases over the past decade, 120 motorcycle chases that resulted in a crash, and 212 chases on wet or icy roads that resulted in a crash, state records show.

Most chases are short, said state police Chief of Staff Capt. Greg Zarotney, and in those cases "road condition rarely has a bearing on the crash." As for motorcycle chases, Zarotney said, "keep in mind that a pursuit only occurs when a decision is made by a driver to flee."

Limited pursuit training for police

Using decades-old technology

Although police chases have been recognized as dangerous for nearly half a century, both training and technology remain inadequate, experts say.
The average police trainee received 72 hours of weapons training compared to 40 hours of driving training, only a portion of which covered chases, according to a 2006 Justice Department study of police training academies.

A 2007 survey of Florida Highway Patrol sergeants showed that 80% thought that patrol officers "did not have adequate training in the area of pursuit driving." Highway Patrol spokesman Lieut. Ryan Martina did not respond to repeated inquires about how the patrol responded to the poll.

Major Travis Yates of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department is a advocate for developing new strategies for the execution of police pursuits. He advocates training and addressing pursuit policies to make them more defined for officers to follow. (USA NEWS, USA TODAY)

"We're not taking it seriously enough because we think that one day of training that an officer may have gotten in their academy is going to take effect 10 years later when a pursuit begins," said Maj. Travis Yates, the Tulsa expert on police chases. "Most officers will never fire their firearms ever, but we train one to four times a year" on using guns.

Chases have been left behind in the modernization of police equipment that is now moving toward outfitting officers with body cameras. President Obama in December proposed $75 million in federal funds to buy 50,000 body cameras in the effort to "build and sustain trust" between police and communities.

Police use of Tasers, body armor, cameras and computers in patrol cars has soared, Justice Department reports show. In 2007, 90% of police worked for a department that used portable computers. In 1990, that figure was 30%.
Yet the principal "technology" for chases are tire spikes — two decades old and seldom used because police must know where a fleeing car is heading so they can pull a strip of spikes across a road. Police in Minnesota used spikes in only 3% of the nearly 1,000 chases in the state in 2014, state records show.

A Justice Department overview notes that spikes "can put both the officers and other motorists in danger." Houston police officer Richard Martin was killed May 18 when a fleeing driver swerved and hit him as he was laying spikes.

"There's been a lot of advances in police technology in the last 15 years. The pursuit-termination devices we envisioned haven't kept up with those advances," said Farrow, the California Highway Patrol commissioner.

A federal effort to develop advanced systems has fallen well short of the hype of a 1996 Justice Department bulletin headline, "High-Speed Pursuit: New Technologies Around the Corner." Federal justice and transportation officials began studying improvements to pursuit safety after a controversial 1968 study by Physicians for Automotive Safety said that 70% of police chases result in crashes.

Devices that would shut off the engines of moving cars by transmitting microwaves are not commercially available a decade after the Justice Department funded their development. "It's very frustrating that we haven't gotten to that next stage," said Bill Miera, owner of Fiore Industries of New Mexico, which tried to build the devices with the help of a $300,000 federal grant but ran short of money.

Alisha Jackson is surrounded by neighbors during a vigil held to help the families that had children killed and injured during a high speed chase in Detroit's east side on June 26. Jackson's children Makiah Jackson, 3, and Michaelangelo Jackson, 6, were hit and killed while playing outside of their house during the high speed chase.
(Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

A device that shoots a small, adhesive GPS tag onto a car exterior was introduced for police in 2010, but is used by only 20 of the nation's 18,000 police departments. Attaching a GPS tag lets police stop their chase — which prompts fleeing drivers to slow down — and follow the car by computer until it stops, where they can make an arrest.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety has embedded the systems in seven cars and uses them every time an officer can get within 30 feet of a fleeing vehicle, Capt. Chris Hemmen said. After tagging a car, police shadow it from a couple of blocks away. "As soon as they stop, we're able to pounce," Hemmen said.

Houston Police considered the devices after Martin's death but declined because officers still have to pursue a car and get close enough to fire the remote-controlled GPS tag from a launcher mounted behind the grill of a police car, department spokeswoman Jodi Silva said.

The $5,000 purchase cost also deters departments, which often spend capital funds and federal grants on routine items such as car tires and hiring more officers, said Trevor Fischbach, president of StarChase LLC, the manufacturer, which got a $380,000 federal grant.

"We're in the 21st Century," Fischbach said. "We should be using 21st-century tools that are available."

Milwaukee slaps limits on chases

"A menace to innocent people"

Police departments that restrict chases have faced resistance from officers.
In 2012, the Florida Highway Patrol changed from a policy that allowed officers to chase anyone, to a policy that allowed pursuits only of suspected felons, drunk drivers and reckless drivers. The number of highway patrol pursuits fell almost in half: from 697 in 2010 - 2011, to 374 in 2013 - 2014.

But 35% of the pursuits in 2013 and 2014 violated the new chase restrictions, state reports show.

Dallas police used to ignore a policy that required them to stop chasing drivers who fled for traffic violations and appeared unlikely to stop, said Randall Blankenbaker, the assistant police chief. When the department in 2006 adopted an even stricter policy limiting chases to suspected violent felons, "there were some folks who were resistant," said Blankenbaker, who wrote the policy.

Milwaukee police still oppose Chief Flynn's 2010 policy restricting chases to suspected violent felons and people who present "a clear and imminent threat to the safety of others."

"The crooks understand that this is our process," said Michael Crivello, the police union president. "Criminals know their car is almost like their safe locker. They can keep drugs and guns in their safe locker."

Motor-vehicle thefts in Milwaukee policy spiked to 18 a day in 2014, from 12 a day in 2013.

Flynn said car theft "became sport" among juveniles. "These kids were finding out, well, nothing happens to me. They had the prestige of being cool to their friends, the thrill of the danger and no consequences," Flynn said, adding that 70% of cars stolen in the city are recovered.

Other cities have seen crime plunge since restricting chases. The Dallas crime rate has plummeted since 2006 — from 81 crimes per 1,000 residents to 48 crimes per 1,000 residents in 2013, according to FBI crime reports. City police have been involved in only one fatal chase since 2006, Blankenbaker said.
Phoenix and Orlando also have seen their crime rates fall substantially since adopting policies that allow pursuits only for suspected violent felons, FBI reports show.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn. In 2010, after four bystanders will killed in Milwaukee during police chases, Flynn adopted a highly restrictive policy that allows chases only of suspected violent felons.
(Photo: Darren Hauck, for USA TODAY)

Many departments base their chase policies on a three-page model the International Association of Chiefs of Police wrote in 1996. The model stops short of the Justice Department recommendation to list the offenses and conditions such as time of day in which a chase is allowed. The model instead lists factors to consider such as road and weather conditions, traffic levels, and the seriousness of a driver's offense.

Flynn restricted chases after four bystanders were killed over three months in 2009 and 2010. Immediately after the deaths, Flynn defended his officers, noting they followed department policy and had actually stopped their pursuits only to have the fleeing drivers continue speeding away and hit the bystanders. Fleeing drivers typically continue speeding for a minute or two after police stop their chase, studies show.

"I thought to myself, it's not enough that we have a policy that tells our officers to terminate pursuits when they become unsafe. That was the industry standard," Flynn said. "I needed an extra line to stop the pursuit in the first place, not because the officers were driving recklessly, but because we can't control the behavior for those who refuse to stop for police."

Contributing: Mark Hannan

THE DEADLY ROADS: NEVER, NOWHERE SAFE: Two drivers critically injured after Grafton Township, Ohio head-on collision

Rescuers from Grafton and Eaton townships work to extricate a woman following a head-on crash on Route 83 on Friday. BRUCE BISHOP/CHRONICLE

Filed on August 7, 2015 by Chronicle-Telegram Staff

GRAFTON TOWNSHIP, OHIO

A woman was extricated, and she and another man were flown to area hospitals following a head-on collision on State Route 83 early Friday morning.

Rescue workers were called out to 83 just south of Law Road around 6:30 a.m. for reports of a head-on collision. Lt. Carlos Smith of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said a black Chrysler PT Cruiser was traveling south on 83. According to witnesses, the vehicle was weaving and went left of center, striking a white Jeep Cherokee that was traveling north.

The road was closed as Metro Life Flight landed. The man driving the PT Cruiser was taken immediately to an unknown hospital, and Eaton Township firefighters had to work more than an hour to extract the woman from the Jeep. Her legs were trapped under the dashboard. She was then taken by Lifeflight to an unknown hospital.

Route 83 reopened around 8:45 a.m. The crash remains under investigation.

THE DEADLY U.S. ROADS, NOWHERE, NEVER SAFE: WRONG-WAY PORSCHE DRIVER LOSES HIS LIFE, CRITICALLY INJURES ANOTHER DRIVER IN HEAD-ON COLLISION IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

 AUGUST 7, 2015

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

San Antonio police were at the scene of an accident that claimed the life on one person Friday morning on the city's north side.

The individual killed in the crash was driving the wrong way down Vance Jackson near The Rim Shopping Center, when his Porsche collided head-on with a minivan.

Police said a small stretch of road was shut down on both sides following the accident.

It was not immediately clear how many people were in the minivan, but police said the driver was transported to University Hospital in critical condition.

Shame, shame, shame: the latest Senate version of the transportation funding bill would delay by at least three more years the implementation of important safety systems

Railroads running away

Posted on August 7, 2015 | By TU Editorial Board

When Congress decided seven years ago to impose new regulations to make the rail industry much safer, nobody was even talking about the dangers of oil trains that carry thousands of tankers loaded with highly combustible crude oil through populated areas.

In that regard, Congress was prescient. The risks of these trains, as demonstrated by many recent derailments and accidents that have resulted in explosions – and, in one tragic incident, 47 deaths – were largely unknown. Some critics have come to calling the trains, which frequently roll through residential neighborhoods in the city of Albany, bomb trains.

Under that 2008 law, the railroad industry had until the end of this year to develop, test and implement an advanced system of technologies that uses GPS data and sophisticated signaling to automatically stop trains before certain types of accidents occur. Known as positive train controls, or PTC, some rail safety experts say that had they been in place already, it would have prevented the Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia earlier this year and the deadly Metro North crash at Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx in December 2013.

But the latest Senate version of the transportation funding bill would delay by at least three more years the implementation of this important safety system. As it now stands, the $55 billion legislation contains specious language that effectively gives the industry an open ended loophole allowing continued delays activating PTC until the railroads are “prepared to do so safely, reliably and successfully.” 

If the past eight years is anything to go by, the industry – or at least the most profitable and most resistant sector – may never be “prepared.”

What makes this legislation even more outrageous is that it cuts funding for one of the only industry sectors that seems to be making an honest effort to comply with the PTC deadline, Amtrak. The partially government-funded passenger service has said it expects to meet this year’s deadline on nearly all of its Northeast corridor. While its counterparts on the freight side of the business seem to throw every excuse they can to derail the PTC deadline, Amtrak deserves credit for making progress.

The Association of American Railroads estimates it will cost $10 billion to fully implement PTC, and claims the companies have already spent half that working to develop the new technology. That sounds like a lot, but it’s roughly equal to the railroads’ usual annual capital spending. Spread over the past seven years, it would have made the safety goal attainable.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., joined by his Connecticut counterpart, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, are favoring an alternative bill that would hold the industry to the 2015 deadline, while providing some exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

The senators are right. Congress should stop the freight rail industry from evading the requirements. The profitable railroads don’t need more time to find more excuses. As Senator Schumer said: “Simply put, Positive Train Control is a lifesaver.”

‘Competing priorities’ led to 2014 CN train crash that spilled 4,000L of diesel. Crew was focused on radioed commands instead of watching the rails

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August 6, 2015
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff

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DORVAL, Que—

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has issued its investigation report into a collision between two Canadian National trains in Montreal, Quebec in 2014. 

There were no injuries in the crash, but both trains sustained damage and approximately 4,000 litres of diesel fuel was spilled.

“On 23 February 2014, a Canadian National yard assignment train was travelling with 25 loaded cars on the freight track of the Montreal Subdivision. At about midnight, the train went through a stop signal and collided with the side of another CN train travelling on the north (adjacent) track in the opposite direction,” the TSB said. 

The agency’s investigation determined as the yard assignment train was approaching the junction between the freight track and the north track, the rail traffic controller radioed the crew, requiring them to copy instructions. In the minutes leading up to the crash,the crew prioritized copying the RTC’s instructions over the operation of the train and observing the applicable signals. As a result, the stop signal was not identified, which led to the collision.

“The locomotives of the yard assignment train were controlled using a remote control locomotive system called a “Beltpack.” An examination into CN’s Beltpack practices revealed that CN does not limit the train tonnage, length, or territory characteristics for Beltpack operations,” the agency said.

It added that even though the Montreal Subdivision presents some unique characteristics and challenges, “CN has not conducted a specific risk assessment for Beltpack operations on this subdivision.” 

The investigation concluded that, if a thorough analysis of risks is not carried out for the operation of Beltpack trains on main track, the vulnerabilities involved in this type of operation will not be identified, and appropriate mitigation measures will not be implemented to protect the public.

The Board is calling for the implementation of additional physical safety defences to ensure that railway signal indications governing operating speed or operating limits are consistently recognized and followed.