Ludington Officials Cause Accident, Ticket Victim for Their Negligence, Doctor the Evidence

[XLFD]

An accident on an intersection of two side streets in Ludington occurred between a 16 year old that cruised through a stop sign, and an officer who had no such regulatory sign directing him.  Seems like a pretty easy case of who's at fault and who should be ticketed, right?  Seems like it to the local news at least:

LUDINGTON — A 16-year-old Ludington girl was ticketed after she drove through a stop sign and was struck by a Ludington Police Department vehicle. The crash occurred at the intersection of Court and Park streets about 5 p.m. Monday. The 16-year-old was driving a Mercury Sable west on Court Street when she went through the stop sign. Ludington Police Officer Chad Skiba was traveling south on Park Street and collided broadside with the other vehicle.

Mason County Sheriff’s Office was called in to investigate. The teen driver suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash and was treated at the scene by paramedics from Life EMS ambulance. Also responding was Ludington Police Dept. and Ludington Fire Dept.

http://www.masoncountypress.com/2014/06/30/teen-driver-runs-into-po...

Back in 2010, I revisited a problem I had pointed out on two occasions in 2009, a problem in the City of Ludington where STOP and YIELD signs were partially and near-totally obscured by trees and other roadside vegetation entitled Vegetation Control for Safety: Over 100 Days Later  with two pictures of the intersection of Court and Park Streets, looking to the west, here is the first one 

 

 

and here is the second one taken around midblock.  As you can see the sign is barely noticeable for this whole time, and of course, before you get to the middle of the approach block.

As you might be able to tell, the thread was a continuation of a simple thread named Vegetation Control for Safety, which had a simple premise, and was from the Federal Highway Administration's booklet of the same name.  Among the pearls of wisdom in the guidebook:  "tree limbs blocking a STOP sign in the street right-of-way can be considered to be negligence (by roadway agencies) in failing to maintain the streets in reasonably safe condition." and "Liability for failure to correct a dangerous condition may be imposed even if the road agency did not have actual notice of the condition if they reasonably should have known about it."

This forum has regularly shown pictures of intersections made dangerous by the continued neglect of the city's administration for keeping our roadways safe.  The people most responsible for such neglect is the City Manager John Shay, a frequent visitor to the Ludington Torch and the recipient of notice of these unsafe intersections back in 2009, and who could easily put the City's DPW to this task at any time, and our City's Traffic Engineer, the person who is responsible for safe and efficient travel in our city, the Chief of Police Mark Barnett. 

In this situation a driver new to the roads, a sixteen year old unused to the utter neglect of the roadways by our city's leaders, fails to see the STOP sign as it is too obscured by the tree blocking it.  After I noticed this accident on the MCP's Facebook page last night, I went out to look at the intersection, unfortunately it was after dark and I have no photographic proof that this stop sign was even worse blocked by the tree than it was in late 2010.  I resolved to take some pictures of it in the morning to document that the city's negligence had caused an accident, not this poor young girl's driving skills. 

 

Much to my surprise, the tree had been severely trimmed since the previous night!  The pictures I took were therefore to show that the branches of this tree had been freshly cut within an hour or so before I had arrived at the scene this very morning.  Several other stop signs in the area that were at least partially obscured had not been touched, just this one.  Here is the view I seen in the morning, a lot different than the previous night when the stop sign was almost completely obscured:

 

Here's some of the cuts on the tree that were fresh, looking due north and up.  The red circles highlight these:

Here we are looking northwest, some of these cuts are duplicates of the first picture

And here are some cuts in the lower areas:

 

 

Interesting that the City of Ludington mobilized their forces so quick so as to try to once again cover up their own complicity in this crime of negligence, but now the fun begins as the Ludington Torch goes about seeking the truth of what went on here, and why our leaders continue to allow these hazards to exist years and years after they are pointed out to them, when a DPW crew could easily handle the problem within a day for the whole city. 

Real men and real city leaders do not cause accidents and then blame them on little girls learning the ropes in their driver-unfriendly city.  They admit they caused the problem and set things aright.  The City of Ludington needs to revoke the ticket, apologize for their negligence of this safety issue to this young citizen, and admit their fault in causing this needless accident.  Otherwise, this tree-doctoring is just a move to cover-up their shame.

[AQUAMAN]

Very interesting and investigatory thread X. I do hope you bring this to the attention of the young lady, along with the picture proofs for her case. If she decides to fight the ticket, the evidence is clearly in her favor. And any 16 year old getting a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign, is going to get several points on her license, as well as higher insurance premiums for the parents to pay. This needn't happen if the proofs are provided to her right away. SHAME on the COL for trying to cover this up, it's clearly fraud! 

[XLFD]

The young lady's name has not been released, I should be getting that with the FOIA reply.  I would include that the damages to the people's vehicle, the LPD Tahoe, will also amount to adding to the Ludington people's insurance rates, and this primarily because the City's DPW doesn't get off their a$$es and prune these intersection lead-ups, except to react to situations like this after the fact.

[Johnny]

I drove through that very intersection yesterday and you could clearly see the stop sign when you are pulling up to the intersection.  I am not sure you are one to really talk about stop signs, based on your previous infraction you have mentioned a numerous amount of times on here.  If this stop sign was so hard to see, why hasn't there been more accidents there?  A 16 year old is suppose to get a free pass because she is a new driver?  She should be driving with more caution anyways for being a new driver.  

I also am glad to know not only is Tommy a wannabe lawyer, an ex-firefighter, and a non-worker.  But he also has his degree in Dendrology.

[XLFD]

Johnny, if you pulled up to that intersection and saw the stop sign clearly yesterday, you not only have the vision of Superman, but also the lying capability of Lex Luthor.  If it was so clear, as you say, why did all those limbs in the pictures get cut this morning?

I went there after dark last night, and the several limbs you will see have been freshly cut if you go there today were still there and uncut.  The 2010 pictures of that same intersection allowed you to see more of the stop sign than I could make out at night.  Even the auto-reflectivity around the sign was basically unnoticeable until you were right on top of it, and shining it right at the sign. 

[AQUAMAN]

So, Johnny Laws, at it again? Can you prove your observation of the stop sign? I don't see you posting anything like pics., but instead casting aspersions as usual, and insulting more members, as usual. Do YOU have a job? What's your vital contribution to society, and to Ludington in general? No one gets a "pass" around Ludville, even the innocent, the poor, the young, and old too. Soooo, wth are you talking about? I see physical proof on the part of XLFD, and you sir, have nothing but vapors, and of course, venom. 

[Willy]

It sounds to me like the girl has a good law suit againts the City. The City should cancel her citation and play nice so the tax payers don't have to dish out more money for being incompetent.

[Pamela Bentley]

The girl in this accident is my daughter. we were told we had to pay the ticket because she was at fault. We showed her the article and asked her if the stop sign looked like this and it didnt. I would really like to talk to whoever wrote this article because we paid the ticket. My daughter paid for it out of her own work money. We have been disgusted ever since because I feel we have a case against the city. My husband and I are both disabled veterans on fixed incomes but honest people. If my daughter had ran the stop sign like the officer claimed, then why did he NOT hit his breaks at all. Looking for help in what to do next. Can we get our money back from the city and fight this? Thanks, Pam

[AQUAMAN]

Pam, I for one am so happy you found this forum, and XLFD'S very proofs of your daughter's innocence. Really doubt COL will end/cancel the ticket, cause, they already won in the view of greater sense of logic and common sense, and of course the LDN frauds!  Plus, they will NEVER ADMIT FRAUD NOR WRONGDOING! The case for you surrounds the very essence of the fact the LPD vehicle hit your daughter's car, broadside, not the opposite so, daughter should get Attorney asap, not a local one either, for all justices's sake! 

[XLFD]

It's serendipity that I am opening up the E-mail for the FOIA I sent on this topic and learning the name of the accident 'victim' at the same time that her mother joins the forum and weighs in. 

Great advice about attorneys; if you go up against any official or agency around here, use attorneys that are based at least a couple of counties away.  Also, it is unlikely that the COL will voluntarily change the disposition, even when a competent attorney sends them a notice that you threaten to take legal action.  They have basically unlimited funds to defend themselves (unlike you), and powerful friends in the local court system. 

Even with an airtight case, it is problematical; but it's worth it, in my opinion, to try.  You (Pamela) and her will have to live with the burden of taking no action when you really wanted to, otherwise.

[XLFD]

The stop sign looked a lot like the first two pictures from 2010 when I saw it that night, not like the one taken the next morning with the sawed off limbs. 

As this is a legal issue, and the other side is free to look in on the forum and the main chat room of the Ludington Torch at any time, please take that into account when posting here, Pamela.  Posting some information may be beneficial to your cause, but some will likely work against you. 

Please check both your messages and the E-mail that you signed into the Torch with for some additional information, some of which I just received earlier today. 

As for the LPD officer not hitting the brakes while this car moved in front of him:  If Officer Chad Skiba was paying attention to the street ahead, and we assume your daughter was driving at the speed limit (25 mph or 37 feet/second) which there is no indication she wasn't, he would have had about a second to see that she wasn't planning on stopping at the intersection and react. 

But, in reality, police officers are probably the most distracted drivers there are with all the bells, computers, and whistles they have inside their vehicle, and the officer wasn't likely paying attention to the intersection traffic.  However, that isn't going to be the big issue here, the actionable issue is going to be whether the City was negligent in their upkeep of the intersection (which it was) and whether this was the proximate cause of the accident (which the City would likely debate).  It's a debate worth having, since I have witnessed a couple of near misses on other streets with similar signage issues, and heard of more. 

[XLFD]

 An interesting story out of Memphis Michigan (in the thumb area) at the end of June.  It seems like the Memphis police Chief Jessica Beels was found to be at fault in an accident where she cruised through a stop sign (non-code, non-emergency), hit a UPS delivery truck hard enough to flip it, and yet was not cited for it by the MSP.  The sub-headline says it all:  "State police do not cite on-duty officers".

When did wearing a badge grant you above-the-law status?  Why have we let the Michigan State Police (and many other sheriff's offices and local police departments) become a band of rogue agents who make their own laws and privileges?

In the aftermath, a Memphis Police Committee (probably made up of cops or wannabes) for the city council took up whether to hold Chief Beels accountable, but they did nothing after meeting in a closed session, by the chief's demand.  "We won't be taking any action at this time, accidents happen, police officers get in accidents practically every day throughout the country." 

So do delivery truck drivers; reverse the positions of the vehicles and the police would be screaming bloody murder.

[Johnny]

Great evidence.....none of your pictures have dates or times.....another half a$$ story by the non working citizen XLFD