Results of an
eight-hour shift

The closing of the H-1 freeway for eight hours following a two-car fatal accident early Sunday raises questions about the efficiency of police in collecting evidence, and for what purpose.

An irate caller says it was obvious that the police were measuring distances and micro-examining the pre-dawn collision scene not for use in criminal proceedings but to hand over to civil attorneys. That, he steams, should not be the officers' responsibility.

Pieces of the Honda Prelude and minivan were spread across an area the length of five football fields -- and were examined over a time period long enough for nearly three football games to be completed. Police said they concluded that drag racing was a possible cause of the accident; several Hondas were observed blocking the freeway in what may have been an assemblage designed to turn the freeway into a race track. If that was the case, evidence gained from the lengthy examination of the scene should end up in criminal court.

--Lee Catterall

---