One of the many serious results of the crash into Ireland's Four Courts
that occurred on Friday, August 12, 2022:
Some links to media stories about the incident are below.
Some very basic questions have not been answered.
More shockingly, AFAIK, they have not even been publically asked by the media.
Here are some:
1. Is there a surveillance video showing the car driving up N. Courthouse Road?
I can't imagine there is not.
Here is why.
The Arlington County Police Department is located just
two blocks south of Ireland's Four Courts at 1425 N. Courthouse Rd.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/76ieQEhuFwfXR4KDA
That stretch of N. Courthouse Rd. is the primary route police vehicles would use
for responding to emergency calls from the well-to-do areas of Arlington that are north and west of the police department.
Surely they would have a camera monitoring traffic on that route, it being critical to their needs.
If such a video exists, it could be used to estimate how fast the car was going while on N. Courthouse Rd.,
also how the car behaved going through the crucial T-intersection between N. Courthouse Rd. and Wilson Boulevard.
2. Is there a surveillance video of the sidewalk dining area in front of Ireland's Four Courts?
It is really hard to imagine that there was no surveillance camera, from somewhere, covering that area,
that showed the car actually driving into the building.
(That is certainly an area frequented by the public.)
If so, why has that not been publicized?
Surely that was an event of great community interest.
3. Did the car make any attempt to slow down before hitting the restaurant?
Were there skid marks?
What are the estimates of the cars speed at various times?
Evidently it hit the restaurant head on, driving in fact right into the wooden door that constituted the public entrance to the restaurant.
Why no attempt to steet the vehicle onto the correct course?
4. Did this Camry have an Event Data Recorder?
See
https://www.toyotaguru.us/camry-repair/edr-event-data-recorder.html
If so, what does it reveal?
5. The police are saying the crash was not intentional.
What led them to that conclusion?
Given the known circumstances,
it seems to me there are only three possibilities:
a. The cause was a medical emergency the driver had.
b. The cause was a mechanical failure of the vehicle.
c. The crash was intentional.
--------
Police reports:
https://www.arlingtonva.us/About-Arlington/News/Articles/2022/Police-Investigate-Critical-Vehicle-Crash-into-Restaurant
"UPDATE (8/15/22) -
<b>The driver and passenger were among those transported to area hospitals</b>
and both sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
...
UPDATE (9/15/22) –
While this remains an active investigation, the investigation at this point indicates
<b>the driver likely experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash.</b>"
UPDATE (10/19/22) –
<b>The comprehensive investigation,
which included an extensive review of evidence,
supported the conclusion the driver experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash.</b>
Following consultation with the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, criminal charges will not be sought against the driver.
-----
Links to media stories:
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/08/12/breaking-restaurant-on-fire-after-crash-in-courthouse/
"Courthouse Road ends at a “T” intersection with Wilson Blvd, with Four Courts directly in front of the turning traffic.
It is unclear why the driver did not stop or turn.
The car appeared to be going well above the speed limit, witnesses said."
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/08/13/new-quick-thinking-customers-and-first-responders-helped-to-save-lives-four-courts-manager-says/
https://wjla.com/news/local/irelands-four-courts-worker-crash-irish-pub-uber-arlington-kevin-walsh-virginia-courthouse-fire-15-people-injured-bar-driver-restaurant-hospital-smoke-gofundme
"I just heard this loud crash.
The shockwave of it nearly knocked me over.
When I looked back up,
I just saw the front of the building was demolished,
and just saw smoke and debris."
DC News Now, 2022-08-14 (1m52s)
https://youtu.be/L5r4kNS5-uY
...
Arlington Police provided an update Monday, stating
the crash was not intentional and
alcohol was not a factor.
Detectives said the Uber driver who was behind the crash is fully cooperating.
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/08/16/still-unclear-what-led-to-fiery-crash-but-four-courts-hopes-to-rebuild/
<blockquote>Arlington County police say the rideshare driver who crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts on Friday <b>did not do so intentionally</b> and was not drunk.</blockquote>
Also, here is a far-fetched comment from that last article:
<blockquote>coilette
[2022-08-18]
Likely the car was behind another vehicle that blocked the car's view and <b>the driver thought that the road kept going straight</b>.
Maybe a GPS thing.
Then the other vehicle turned and the car didn't have time to react.</blockquote>
My response:
The driver ran head-on into a building twelve feet high painted bright red:
For God's sake, how can you not see that from, say, a thousand feet away?
Plenty of time to either
a. adjust to the proper course (a left turn onto Wilson),
or, if you can't do that,
b. stop or at least slow down.
The time of the crash was over an hour before sunset.
With regard to the hypothesis that a vehicle blocked the driver's view,
it is certainly possible that a large truck could do that.
But a truck large enough to do that isn't going to make a fast left turn onto Wilson.
The truck will be moving slowly as it turns, so any vehicle following it will be too.
Leaving time to follow the truck to the left, or slow down and avoid a collision.
Really hard to give credence to coilette's hypothesis, let alone consider it "likely".
------
More stories:
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/longtime-arlington-pub-devastated-by-fiery-crash-that-injured-14-people-irelands-four-courts/65-ddd3c14d-1cde-4835-8001-97bacb4cfcfe
ARLnow: A volunteer firefighter at a going-away party helped to save lives at Ireland's Four Courts.
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/08/19/a-volunteer-firefighter-at-a-going-away-party-helped-to-save-lives-at-irelands-four-courts/
https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-volunteer-firefighter-called-hero-after-rescuing-people-irelands-four-courts-crash-arlington-virginia-pub-bar-uber-driver
2022-08-23
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/volunteer-firefighter-arlington-pub-crash-irelands-four-courts/65-56399934-f8aa-456e-af04-5519688818d6
2022-09-15
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/09/15/just-in-driver-likely-had-medical-emergency-before-crashing-into-irelands-four-courts-police-say/
"The rideshare driver who crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse last month likely experienced “a medical emergency” before driving into the building, police say."
This ArlNow article has lots of comments, with upvotes and downvotes,
mainly arguing that
1. the police claim that the driver
"likely had a medical emergency"
is an adequate explanation and should be accepted at face value, and
2. that there should be no public interest in knowing the driver's name or anything about him.
These comments give the police a clue about how much information they should give the public about this event.
-++++++++++
Arlnow.com commentators making excuses for the driver:
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/08/16/still-unclear-what-led-to-fiery-crash-but-four-courts-hopes-to-rebuild/#comment-5950682299
scoot777
[2022-08-16] edited
<i>"Unclear what led to fiery crash"</i>
Here are some potential leads the investigators could start with:
1. Infrastructure and community design choices that have covered our cities in wide swaths of asphalt
2. The notion that almost everyone over 16 can be trusted to behave themselves on that asphalt while operating vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, if only we paint some lines and put up a few signs and signals to tell them what we want them to do.
3. Insufficient enforcement to incentivize compliance with #2, leading people to assume they can get away with a variety of dangerous actions.
4. An economic system and culture that encourages individuals and corporations to prioritize their own convenience and profit-seeking over any obligations they might face from #2, even at the expense of the safety and lives of others around them.
<b>5. A legal system that fails to hold perpetrators of automotive violence fully liable even when they destroy others' lives and property.</b>
6. A culture where people choose to pay more attention to electronic devices than to the real world around them, even while operating motor vehicles on those wide swaths of asphalt in the vicinity of others.
8 Upvotes, 6 Downvotes
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/10/19/new-driver-who-plowed-into-four-courts-will-not-face-charges/
Have heard that a few of the people that were in critical condition have life altering injuries and will never be the same. Very sad.
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/11/21/bollards-may-be-on-the-menu-after-irelands-four-courts-crash/
"Since 2017, 0.25% of total critical crashes, or 32 out of 13,035, involved a driver hitting a building.
Two of these crashes — excluding the Courthouse crash — involved a visible, but not severe, injury,
the crash into Ireland's Four Courts was the ONLY one that resulted in serious personal injury.
just why they think the driver suffered a medical emergency before the crash.
https://www.arlnow.com/2023/02/01/four-courts-starting-interior-demolition-today-aiming-for-late-summer-reopening/
1. a medical issue with the driver, or
2. a mechanical failure of the vehicle?
Running into a 12-foot high building painted bright red at a speed high enough to cause the extensive damage it did?
At an intersection tens of thousands of drivers have negotiated without the slightest problem.
Again, precisely what leads the ACPD to assert this incident was "unintentional"?
Thank you for any response you can make to this admittedly irate email.
