Bad Drivers, Yep--That's the Cops for You

Cleveland.com has this remarkable story about a veteran Cleveland traffic cop John Cotner who plowed into the open door of a disabled car that was being pushed to the berm along Interstate 71 near Cleveland, Ohio.

According to anccount at the link sent to me by my pal Laura, the accident happened on a dry, sunny Sunday afternoon and the police car was substantially faster than the posted speed limit.  The police officer is in court this morning facing, get this--"failure to maintain an assured distance ahead" count, in other words a speeding charge.

The collision caused the disabled driver who was trying to push his car to the curb--to be physically hurled some distance then the poor schmuck was run over by his own car, resulting in the partial amputation of his right leg.  Officer Coyne was not alcohol or drug tested, nor is information about his cellphone or computer usage immediaterly prior to the crash being released to the media.

So I'm guessing you think this is a pretty rare occurence?  Right? 

Perhaps not.  In my daily circumventing of the internets I come across these terrible tragic accounts of bad drivers who just happen to be in law enforcement and operating cop cars.  One of the more dramatic recent accounts relates to a former Illinois State Trooper Matt Mitchell (pic) who killed 2 teen sisters by slamming into the rear of the car they occupied.  Mitchell was going 126 mph at the time of the collision that killed these young girls and he had been chatting it up on his private cell phone and using the patrol car's computer.  In court he claimed he was responding to an "emergency call." the most common excuse--but tapes from the dispatcher-patrol car fully rebutted this claim. 

Look, did Officer Cotner intend to cause a crippling injury to this motorist?  Did Trooper Mitchell intend to kill thesed two Illinois teens?  Not a chance!  But it one more example of what we all know about how law enforcement in their recklessness breed contempt for the law.