It's Time to Put the Brakes on High Speed Chases in Metro Atlanta!

When I heard the news that the Georgia State Patrol fired a trooper for causing the terrible crash that killed a woman in downtown Atlanta, I stood up and cheered.

It’s about time that our police agencies acknowledge that the traffic laws also apply to them and stop making excuses for those few reckless cops who seem to have a need for speed.

He was fired after follow up investigations showed that the same trooper was involved in four previous accidents, where he was at fault. The question is: Why did it take so long for him to be fired?

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/trooper-fired-after-fatal-1292228.html

We should never forget that crash on New Year’s Eve when the victim, Kathy Porter, was a passenger in an SUV driven by her husband. Her family was on their way to the Chick-fil A Bowl, when they were broadsided by a State Patrol vehicle driven by Trooper Donald Crozier.

The trooper ran the red light as he was speeding through heavy downtown traffic to assist with a motorcycle chase on I-20. Kathy Porter died at the scene while her husband, their son and another passenger were injured.

Trooper Crozier claimed that he was running with his lights and siren on, but several witnesses said they heard no siren and one witness said Crozier didn’t even slow down. Kathy Porter and her family never had a chance. The initial investigation report showed that Crozier "failed to use due regard when traveling through the intersection on a red traffic signal."  

Remember that phrase because any of us who drive in Atlanta traffic could be the next victim. I know because the same thing almost happened to me just a few weeks ago.

I was driving on Red Oak Road in South Fulton County and stopped at a red light as I waited to turn left onto Flat Shoals Road. My windows were down and my radio was off because I was just making a quick grocery store run. The intersection is dangerous because of poor visibility and that's why I moved forward slowly after the light turned green. That’s when I heard the low wail of a  police siren for the first time. Down the hill on my left was a Fulton County Police car that was speeding my way as it swerved around the cars that were stopped at the red light on Flat Shoals.

I was a sitting duck, in the middle of the intersection when I saw him. My only option was to finish turning and get out of the way, far to the right. The officer came straight at me at full speed until the last second, when he went around me as he cut me a nasty look. It never occurred to this cop that he had, “failed to use due regard when traveling through the intersection on a red traffic signal." He just looked at me like he wanted to give me a ticket for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. His look said “How dare you for not getting out of my way!”

Two things still scare me about that near collision. First, I could have been killed the way that cop was driving. Second, if the cop had hit me, the police would have claimed that I was at fault and I’d have gotten a ticket and faced jail time. That scenario makes my skin crawl, because if you make a list of what went wrong, it starts with overzealous police officers like him. I’ve personally witnessed other incidents where police officers have dangerously sped through red lights, thinking they had the right to proceed, just because their lights and sirens were on.

I’ve also watched speeding police officers who slowed down and turned off their lights and sirens, after they cleared heavy traffic. It makes you wonder if they really had an emergency call; or if they got a text that there are fresh hot donuts at their favorite spot? Speaking of texts, some of the most distracted drivers on the road are the police officers who use their phones and laptops as they drive through traffic.

Back to the Porter case, if it weren’t for the witnesses that day, Trooper Crozier might have gotten away with motor vehicle homicide. It’s time for all of us to become better witnesses against this kind of behavior and file a complaint every time we see it. Get out your smart phones and take pictures if you can, because the life you save may be your own. We have to let them know they are being watched, the same way they watch us.

Meanwhile, it’s time for all police agencies in Metro Atlanta to develop and enforce a no chase policy in urban areas; especially for crimes that aren’t felonies. It’s time to train our police officers on what they can do legally in an emergency vehicle. If they break the rules they should first be reprimanded and then fired if they do it again.

If the actions of reckless police officers lead to the deaths of innocent people, those cops should be prosecuted and face jail time, just like you and me.