Law enforcement agencies in Clallam County are forming a “crash review team,” prompted by a string of fatal highway crashes and the need to pool investigative resources and expertise.
“I think it’s very important that we do this,” said Sheriff Joe Martin, acknowledging the need for law enforcement agencies to cooperate for better investigations at major crash scenes.
Clallam and Jefferson counties have endured 13 highway fatalities since Jan. 1.
The two-county region normally experiences that many fatalities in a year, State Patrol Lt. Clint Casebolt said Monday during a Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Casebolt said he is worried because 2004’s busy traffic season hasn’t yet begun.
The lieutenant, who is responsible for the State Patrol regional contingent that includes the North Olympic Peninsula, cited driver error as the cause of the increase in fatal crashes.
The crash team, which will be made up of traffic investigators considered experts from the Washington State Patrol, county sheriff’s department and Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks police departments, will respond only to serious crashes involving deaths or serious injuries.
It will be bolstered by new software technology — two crash data retrieval systems developed by Vetronix Corp., a national firm. Total cost of the systems is $4,990, secured through a law enforcement grant.
County commissioners on Tuesday waived the requirement to call for three bids on the system because Vetronix is the sole provider.
The crash data retrieval system is essentially a 4-inch by 4-inch box about an inch thick that is plugged into a vehicle’s “fencing diagnostic module” connected to the air bag system.
