Birken Vogt
Charter Member
Don't get me wrong, I understand these guys have a process to follow and I'm not about to blast then for doing their job, but I do think there's sinc streamlining that could be done when it's a minor injury accident and a state highway is blocked.
Un-heard-of here also. California Highway Patrol's #1 concern seems to be to get the road open. Back in the day if you were the fire department and scraping somebody off the pavement was taking too long you could bet the man would be standing there with his Stetson hat looking at his watch, tapping his foot and frowning. They are a little more lenient in cases of safety these days but even in cases of fatalities, total closure is rare and then only as long as absolutely necessary. I think they have struck a reasonable balance these days.
One thing they have done that makes some sense in the larger cities, is to have government-paid tow trucks that drag any disabled vehicles off the freeway to the nearest off ramp as quickly as possible. It makes better financial sense to do that than to force thousands of people to wait, secondary accidents, etc.