

EDITORIAL: Agencies failed us in series of wrecks

No one connected dots before sixth veer-off wreck in 12 months

12:48 PM, Aug. 24, 2013  |  Comments
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How does someone smash a car into a gas station, causing an explosion that critically injures a bystander, then maintain a driver's license with the state of Tennessee?

Oh, and that's after having at least three other blackout wrecks in the prior 12 months?

It's easier than you might think.

John E. Ward had six veer-off wrecks in 12 months, including two where he smashed into someone's house, once into a building and one in which he plowed over a bus stop sign on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard.

In five cases, he claimed to have blacked out - in at least three cases because of anxiety and in one because he's hypoglycemic.

After his most recent wreck, the second of the house wrecks, the Clarksville Police Department called him out to the Tennessee Department of Safety. But as of Friday, Ward is still a legal driver.

Apparently, though, CPD wasn't aware of Ward's five blackout wrecks in 12 months until The Leaf-Chronicle made a public records request for the information.

Connecting the dots is always easier after the fact than it is when the dots are still moving, but that's why we have public safety systems in place to track these problems.

Only a judge or the Department of Safety can take away a license. The DOS will propose a license suspension if it receives a written complaint or if a driver has accumulated 12 points on his record.

So, here are the things that appear to have allowed these wrecks to continue:

? Ward was never charged by Clarksville Police. In five wrecks, Ward told police he was driving with an emotional/medical condition that caused him to black out. By the second wreck, that should have been a known medical condition. So why wasn't he charged with reckless driving every time? That would have gotten him before a judge, who might have ordered a suspension or revocation.

? The court missed its chance. When Ward was charged by Tennessee Highway Patrol with reckless endangerment for his Dec. 10 wreck, the charge was dismissed. A judge should have noticed Ward had a similar wreck four months earlier and given the case a deeper look.

? CPD didn't notice Ward's wreck history. The Police Department has expensive computer equipment installed even in the patrol cars, and it has come at taxpayer expense. If this equipment cannot be used to check a driver's wreck history at the scene, then a computer programmer fell asleep at the wheel. A CPD letter should have been sent to DOS after the second blackout wreck, not the fifth.

? The point system failed. With his April 7 wreck, Ward should have had 12 points from three personal injury wrecks at 4 points each. Instead, he was sent only a warning that he had 8 points. If that had been 12, Ward might not have had a license when he plowed into the gas station on July 4. DOS says that in the first of those wrecks, Ward was deemed not to be at fault.

? The point system is flawed. A property damage wreck costs 3 points, while personal injury costs 4. So Ward got 3 points for veering into a ditch and 4 for blowing up a gas station and causing critical injuries. If you can blow up two gas stations every year without losing your license, that's a flawed system.

? Car rental companies and insurance agencies aren't paying attention. Two of the five cars in Ward's wrecks were rentals; all of them received disabling damage. Sure, it's their money, but you'd think these companies would have a better way to keep from losing it.

These systems aren't working, and they need to be evaluated and cleaned up.

Until that happens, none of us are safe even behind brick walls.

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