Cheyenne Roche: Did reporters jump the gun?
Aug. 10—In the last month, we've had two fatal crashes in Union County. Four people have died and two are in critical condition.
During situations like these, correct information was vital, and we didn't have that in either case. In the July 21 case, we received information that one of the girls had passed who had not passed at the time. In the Aug 5 incident, reports claimed the driver had died when it was the passenger who had.
The comment section on our post regarding the high-speed crash Saturday went crazy after we published a report different than those reported by other media outlets.
People criticized officers and even called for reporters to be fired. So let's talk about what a fatal accident looks like from the perspective of both the officers and the reporters.
For starters, the Iowa State Patrol sends technical collision investigators to take over the paperwork and investigation on all fatal crashes. However, they aren't always first on scene. Sometimes they aren't on scene until after it's been cleared. Our local officers and other first responders do just that — respond. From there, it's out of their hands.
From a reporter standpoint, we often receive word of the accident from either the scanner or from text message updates we get from the Creston Fire Department. This simply alerts us to incident.
Sometimes we will create a post to alert our readers of closed roads. But we wait for official reports to come out before we put a release together. We receive local accidents via email from the Union County Law Enforcement Center, but for fatalities, the Iowa State Patrol releases all crash reports on accidentreports.iowa.gov.
It's important to note there are no "rough drafts" of accident reports. The reports released by the Iowa State Patrol are official public records. For reference, the accident Saturday occurred at 10 p.m. and the crash report came out at 4 a.m. This wasn't a hasty report, this was six hours after the incident took place.
It is unfortunate that in both incidents, incorrect information was released regarding the life of a community member. I try to keep in mind that just like you and I, the person penning the report is only human.
We do our best to ensure information is accurate; however, we can only go with what official sources provide.
I've seen people say the media should have waited to report on the accident. However, the report was online and incorrect for nearly 12 hours.
In terms of the Creston accident itself, I am extremely disappointed in the residents of this city. There were dozens of people walking about, watching the scene, and even more driving past as emergency responders attempted to work.
Our job is to show you what's happening, and even we had the respect to stay away. An accident is not your source of Saturday night entertainment. A young man lost his life, and yet here people are, gawking and taking photos.
I saw a photo with more than 100 shares circulating on Facebook with the vehicle crashed into the house before family members were even notified. How horrific to possibly find out your loved one has died from a circulating photo.
I have heard the excuse of human nature being curious, but to be quite frank, I don't care. My husband had the misfortune of being on scene for both accidents. I'm sure if others had watched six people in their 20s be pulled from the wreckage of a vehicle, they would think twice before going to watch the "excitement."
Imagine you're curious and want to drive by to check out the wreckage only to find out the people in the vehicle are your loved ones. Imagine how horrible that would be, and how difficult it would be for first responders to do their job with a loved one standing by.
Lastly, I want to urge everyone to drive safe. Please — wear your seatbelt, put your phone down and just be attentive. Accidents are becoming more and more frequent, and we need to do something to stop it.
It's no secret local law enforcement has been cracking down on drinking and driving. I've seen people complain about this, saying they need to be worrying about the drug problem or other issues in Creston.
Recent events should show our roadways are already a dangerous place to be without alcohol or drugs. Adding impaired drivers only exacerbates the problem we already have. Just this year, seven people from Union County have died from auto accidents.
This issue is serious. There is nothing our local officers should be working on more than stopping more fatalities in any way they can — speed cameras, reckless driving tickets or OWI arrests.
A few months back, I was coming back in the dark from a work assignment in Greenfield. Just before Kessler's curve, a vehicle with no lights on turned out in front of me from a side road. I didn't even see him, and slammed on my brakes, narrowly avoiding the crash.
He began swerving from side to side, and I called dispatch. While on the phone, he went nearly completely into the other lane as a vehicle came from the other direction. I was terrified.
The next day, we had an OWI arrest report in the paper for that man, who didn't even have a valid license because of a previous OWI conviction.
If I had been going just a little faster, if I had been distracted, I could have lost my life that day, or he could have. Please, drive safe and have empathy when it comes to those of us just trying to do our jobs.
