What happens after the impact?
The Serious Crash Unit based in Manukau has the unpleasant task of investigating all serious and fatal crashes in the Counties Manukau district. Included in this unique team is Steve Shaskey. After moving from Dunedin to pursue a career that definitely isn’t for the faint hearted, Steve shares the highs and lows of a job that sometimes can be the toughest job in the world.
“One bad decision or lapse in concentration can start a process of investigation and change lives forever” reflects Steve who has been with the Serious Crash Unit for just over three years. Intensive training enables him to systematically problem solve a crashed vehicle situation to determine the series of events leading to that fateful moment.
Working in closely with the Ambulance and Fire services, members of the serious crash team are generally only called once a paramedic has determined the status of the patients as either deceased or ‘status one’ meaning there are life threatening injuries. First priority for every emergency service is to preserve life and the crash unit can’t start their investigation until the Fire and Ambulance service have finished their respective jobs.
Picking up the pieces and placing them together to work out the series of events that led to the moment of impact, the Serious Crash Unit uses a series of mathematics and physics to determine speed, and takes into account environmental, vehicle and driver factors. Each aspect is looked at with the objective of eliminating them one by one to determine the cause of each crash. After completing quite a number of reports Steve advises that unfortunately most of the time it is the driver of the vehicle that is at fault. The pressure on the analyst to accurately reconstruct the series of events is immense, as each report written by the Serious Crash Unit must be held accountable for in a court of law.
Steve reflects on what is termed ‘the fatal five’ these being our biggest killers on the road. Speeding is considered globally as the most important determinant of road safety, every 1km/h drop in speed has the potential to reduce fatal crashes by up to 4%. The second of the fatal five is drunk/drugged driving, if you drive drunk, or under the influence of drugs you are 16 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash. Predominantly a male problem, over the last year there has been an increase in the number of female and youth drivers over the legal alcohol limit which is a concern to Police. Third on the list is restraints, safety belts are highly effective in saving lives and preventing injury, when wearing a seatbelt you reduce the chance of injury or death by 40%. Intersections, failing to keep left, driving while fatigued or drowsy and driver distraction all relate to dangerous/careless driving, the forth aspect of the fatal five. Last of the fatal five is high risk drivers, these include driving while unlicensed or disqualified, young drivers, motorcyclists, illegal street racing and recidivist offenders. Unlicensed and disqualified drivers undermine the licensing and court systems and are often linked to high risk driving such as speeding and drink driving and are more often than not repeat offenders.
When asked what the hardest part of the job is Steve replies “The toughest part of the job is investigating a crash where there has been a child involved. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see a life so precious, and full of promise and potential with everything to live for, either taken away or severely altered forever due to actions beyond their control.”
For Steve the most frustrating part of the job is seeing needless deaths that would not have occurred had the road rules set in place been followed. It is not over at the moment of impact, the weeks that follow see Steve liaising with the families of all parties involved, and he acknowledges that it is disheartening to see lives that are destroyed due to a conscious decision to disobey these rules. The job is emotionally challenging especially when dealing with the families involved. For the families the day of the crash is only the beginning, they will have to cope with this for the rest of their lives. “The sense of achievement when you finally get closure for the family is definitely the most rewarding part of the job, and it is this that drives me forward and keeps me focused on the job in hand so I do not focus or dwell on the grisly sights that I am faced with at the scene” states Steve “This means that the family is able to take that first step towards recovery and start looking towards the future after the crash”.
Steve quotes from one of his victim impact statements “Now, nearly a year later we are still picking up the pieces of our lives, trying to place them together in such a way that we can move forward and take each day as it comes, our lives have been forever changed and each day poses a new challenge. Our lives will never be the same again.”
Next time you look at your speedo and your ‘only a little over the speed limit’ or you think that you won’t be affected by drinking alcohol or taking drugs then driving, think again. Think about how the first person to come across your accident will feel about the sights they are faced with and the emotional stress they will now face. Think about the emergency services teams working against the clock to prevent loss of live, think about the horrific sights they see on an all too regular basis, the sights that could have been prevented. Think about the families of the innocent victims that will be affected by your actions for the rest of their lives. Are you making a conscious decision to drive a loaded gun?
Steves final words that he hopes do not fall of deaf ears are “You never become completely immune to the sights you see and I wouldn’t wish the sights I see on a regular basis on my own worst enemy. If only the recidivist offenders had to deal with the aftermath on repeated occasions, maybe then they would consider the consequences of their actions”
We have always been very conscious of the road rules and have a policy of not drinking and driving. But sometimes that isn't enough. After a serious accident just under a year ago my husband and I are still picking up the pieces. No other car was involved, the weather was clear and sunny, the road surface was good, no drugs or alcohol were involved, we were all w
 | Anonymous |
| Wednesday, July 07, 2010 |
I would like to add a comment to this well written article. I live on Linwood road in Karaka and am a victim of peoples bad driving and careless errors on our road. There have been 5 deaths and 1 serious injury from my house to 2 minutes down the road in the last 3 years. The toll taken by the first aiders and those who live next to these accidents is awful. I was a first aider at an accident this year where a lady passed away at the scene. I have found it very hard to get over this. I have had nightmares, panic attacks when driving and I have become a very cautious driver (and I was already a good driver before the accident) Seeing this article brought back all the emotions following this accident again and I ended up in tears. So many people are affected by a road accident more than just those in the vehicles.
I am concerned about the driving habits of so many people on this, and many other roads. The impact on those who are involved in the accident, first aiders and witnesses can be very difficult and take a long time recover from. Please don't speed, don't drink and drive, don't take drugs and drive and don't take silly risks.
| Anonymous |
| Thursday, July 08, 2010 |
100% agreement on the drink and drugs points, however there is still a massive short sightedness within the Police with regards road safety.
Driver education (or lack thereof) and careless driving/bad driving habits are what cause accidents and deaths on our roads.
You can hand out a million speeding fines and you wont change a thing.
Its a reactive approach, and its well known that prevention is the best cure. the only way to prevent road accidents is to improve the level of skill and education of the road users themselves.
If the Police as a whole spent more time and effort on education and driver training, we would see far fewer accidents and fatalities on our roads. There are plenty of overseas models that can be followed.
Its far too easy to get a license in New Zealand, there is no follow up testing until you are an elderly person, and the number of idiots driving is unreal.
Fact: A driver travelling in excess of the speed limit does not cause an accident. This must be coupled with an act of stupidity or lack or ability, Sure, speed may end up a factor but it is not the sole factor, and the tunnel vision the NZ police have regarding this is a problem in itself.
| Anonymous |
| Wednesday, July 14, 2010 |
I agree this is an extremely well written article. I don't think any amount of education by the Police is going to change the mentality of some of the young drivers today. I have no idea what the answer to the problem is - maybe more shock tactics earlier in their lives - exposing them to the consequences of a serious accident while still at school. Who knows...