Investigator gives closure by sifthing through wreckage
Staff reporter
Preliminary investigations indicate inattentive driving were the causes of two accidents June 28 and 29 on U.S.-50 resulting in seven deaths.
The state's top accident investigation team was on the scene and in the area collecting evidence and information this past week with the final report anticipated within six months.
Trooper Kip Ballinger, has seen his share of tragedy and wreckage during his 10-year career as lead constructionist with the state's top highway accident investigation team.
CHART (Critical Highway Accident Response Team) is a department of Kansas Highway Patrol and partially funded with federal highway funds through the motor carrier division.
Ballinger and his team were called to the scenes of the two multi-fatality accidents to collect evidence and data.
"About 95 percent of the accidents I investigate involves a fatality and a commercial motor vehicle," Ballinger said.
Ballinger got the call Monday afternoon and traveled to the accident scene from Salina. He and his team stayed on the scene until 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. He returned to Salina and was home about an hour and a half, he said, when he got the second call at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday.
"Trooper (Mike) Ottensmeier called me shortly after he got the call," Ballinger said.
Ballinger then spent another night at a U.S.-50 accident scene. He returned to Marion County Thursday to continue his investigation.
Ballinger said the two accidents were "the worst accidents I've seen in a long time."
On Thursday he was obtaining a search warrant from Eighth Judicial Chief Judge Michael Powers to obtain the engine control module from the semi that caused the Tuesday accident involving a total of six vehicles and five deaths. He also collected the sensing and diagnostic modules (located in the air bags) from the passenger vehicles.
"These modules are like an airplane's black box," Ballinger explained.
Ballinger was able to determine the speed of the semi-truck in Monday's accident with information collected in the truck's module.
"Trooper Ottensmeier told the press the semi was traveling at 64 mph," Ballinger said. "That information came from my team after the truck's module was pulled and analyzed."
Passenger vehicles' air bags also provide critical information.
"There are other factors involved in the modules," Ballinger said. Sometimes wheel size of a vehicle or other variables may alter the findings of the module.
"Electronic data from vehicles is a great help but the information from the modules can't stand alone (in court) as evidence," Ballinger said. "It can corroborate the other evidence and information that is gathered."
Modern technology has changed the complexity of Ballinger's job but also has improved the capability of determining the causes of accidents.
Modern surveying equipment allows measurement of the scene to a precise scale, said Ballinger. An instrument is used to test road friction and a laptop with computer software allows the team to enter data to assist in determining the cause and effect.
"We used to use pencil, paper, and a calculator to determine speed and reconstruct scenes," Ballinger said. It was not as much of an exact science then as it is now, he added.
There are six reconstructionists in the state. CHART was formed in January 1994. Ballinger is one of the original members of the organization.
The investigative division was formed to improve highway safety, Ballinger said. He does this work for that purpose but more importantly to find answers and bring closure to families and friends of fatality victims.
"It's not pleasant to see the wreckage, destruction, and death," Ballinger said, "but we learn to deal with it as part of our job."
Ballinger said in order to avoid these types of accidents, drivers need to use common sense and be patient. He offers this advice for drivers:
"If you are stopped due to road construction or traffic, leave enough distance to be able to see the roadway over the hood of your car," Ballinger emphasized. He said that is what saved the life of one of the drivers in Tuesday's accident.
"She saw the truck coming in her rear-view mirror, and took action to avoid being hit," Ballinger said. The Ford Explorer still was hit by the semi-truck, but the driver only suffered minor injuries.
He also said he supports Kansas Department of Transportation in taking additional steps to alert motorists of maintenance work by diverting traffic partially onto a 10-foot-wide paved shoulder, where vehicles must pass over rumble strips.
"Any time a driver is required to do a lane change maneuver, it calls attention to something up ahead," said Ballinger. "If a driver is not paying attention and passes a flagger, the driver is in his/her own lane."
Ballinger said seven deaths in two days on one stretch of highway are unusual but said the construction company complied with KDOT's standards.
"We can go years and years without problems," Ballinger said, "and then when something like this happens we think we have to change things. But in these cases, the cause was drivers' errors."
KDOT enforces the laws as best they can with the available manpower, said Ballinger.
The Federal Highway Commission was on the scene Friday.
"They are interested in learning what can be done to prevent this type of tragedy in the future," Ballinger said. "The ultimate purpose is accident prevention."
Members of CHART and state troopers will be "debriefed," Ballinger said, to give closure to the workers regarding the amount of tragedy and destruction they have seen in two days' time.
"What bothers me is how collisions like these affect families and friends," Ballinger said.
"Every one of these people had a life story — what they were doing, where they were going," Ballinger said. "Carefree one minute, and in a matter of seconds, they're gone."
Ballinger's greatest reward with this profession is providing answers to families and friends of accident victims.
"Everybody has a purpose and a job to do," Ballinger said. "Mine is to collect data to determine the truth and bring closure to families."
