Editor’s Note: The Norway Police Department’s Citizens Academy offers the public an opportunity to learn about law enforcement and what it does from those who do it. It began in April and each week we will feature a class from the eight-week academy.

Week 4 – Motor vehicle laws and crash investigation – Sgt. Michael Dailey, Cpt. Rickie Jack and Sgt. Daniel Hanson

The evening began with Oxford Police Captain Rickie Jack Discussing the reasons law enforcement initiates traffic stops. Such things as expired registration or inspection sticker, tail or head lights out, speed, failure to use a turn signal, throwing a lit cigarette out the window or litter, etc., may or may not be the main reason a vehicle is pulled over. Police might be suspicious of an OUI driver or that there may be drugs involved.

If an officer has reasonable articulable suspicion, or is given permission, they may search the car. Or perhaps they may call for a “drug dog” – a K-9 officer trained to alert when drugs are present.

He showed the class an inch-thick book of traffic laws that drivers must follow and police have to enforce.

After fielding a number of questions he yielded the floor to Maine State Trooper Sgt. Dan Hanson.

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Hanson is a certified crash investigator one of only a handful in the state.

To begin with, he defined what a crash must include:

  • unintentional
  • on a public way
  • vehicle is in motion
  • causes injury or death
  • over $1,000 in damage to vehicle or property

Noting drivers are required by law to report any reportable crash (see above) to law enforcement by the quickest means, Hanson listed distracted driving as an increasing cause of crashes. He said people have been seen driving while talking or texting on phones, reading a book and watching a film on their phones. This, he said, has been done by bus drivers with a bus full of passengers.

Violation fines for such acts are not cheap:

  • Texting – $325, first offense; $625, second
  • Reading – $152
  • TV – $152
  • Failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle – $134

Seat belt violations:

  • 1st offense – $85
  • 2nd offense – $175
  • 3rd offense – $325

Hanson’s role as a crash investigator takes the laws of physics and trigonometry which, he said, are more dependable than eye witnesses. Crash investigators also use such tools as Matchbox cars to reconstruct when what they have been told makes no sense, and drones.

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Cpt. Rickie Jack, foreground, Sgt. Mike Dailey, left and Sgt. Dan Hanson explain the steps of crash reconstruction. Advertiser Democrat photo by A.M. Sheehan

“Cars tell us a lot more now,” he said, when they download the vehicles computer which they can do either with consent of owner or via a warrant. However, “the reconstruction analysis has to be done first,” before they see the computer download.

Maine’s reconstruction program is one of the top in the country, he said. Reconstructionists have to re-certify every year. There are only 15 in the entire state so they are in demand and often travel throughout the state. The turnover, said Hanson, is frequent because of the time demand for both reconstructing as well as hours of testing for recertification each year.

Paris Police Sgt. Michael Dailey is also a certified reconstructionist and has been for 16 years. Hanson has been for 12 years. Both are nationally accredited which is beyond state certification in both learning and testing. There are only six or seven nationally certified in the state, said Hanson.

Dailey offered various insights into what he does and slides of different crash scenes exemplified that what might look obvious is often, not what it seems with regard to how crashes happen.

Editor’s Note: The next Citizens Police Academy will begin Tuesday, September 24.


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