Stadium & St. Francis

How do you know that the driver was drunk?

Maybe the driver was sober and making a political statement.

Apologies; I spoke out of turn. I *thought* the AAPD officer I talked to Sunday morning had said it was a drunk, but when I called back to confirm this morning I was told (after three transfers) that their call record only indicated that an officer had checked out an accident at this corner at 6:30pm on Saturday. The records this lieutenant had access to this morning didn’t indicate whether or not the driver was present when the officer arrived, nor if any present driver was drunk, political, or just a totally awesome daredevil. She told me there was no way for me to follow up on this personally. She was very nice. 

That said–and you can’t see this from the pic–but skid marks make it pretty clear that the driver tried to pull a left *crazy fast* from Stadium to St Francis. He/she skidded and went wide, jumped the curb, flattened the signal, and went another 20+ feet *entirely on the easement and sidewalk*, running the passenger side of the car along the St Francis church playground fence, before swooping back out and nailing the ped xing sign (this is how he/she laid out the sign and signal, but missed the delicate lil tree between them–viewed from the sky, his/her progress described a question mark w/ its foot pointing down Stadium
toward Ypsilanti).

So, as far as the drunk. Either:

1) I mis-remembered the conversation. I *believe* I said something like “Some stupid drunk ran down the signal at…” and the Sunday-morning officer said “Yeah, we had someone out at the accident last night.” But memory is a flexible bullet. 
2) I recall the conversation accurately, but the cop didn’t actually hear me say “drunk,” and thus was saying “Yeah, we know about the sign,” not “Yeah, it was a drunk idiot.”
3) Noting that the cop I talked to Sunday morning didn’t have to transfer me to anyone, he may have already been in the loop about the accident, and thus knew things that either a) have yet to be integrated into/linked with the record that was pulled up this morning, or b) were not recorded formally for whatever reason. 

Conclusion: Our crosswalk sign is trashed, regardless of the politics or sobriety of the diver. Fingers crossed that someone will dig up enough dough to fix it soonishly, as two different schools and at least one scrubby bicyclist use it daily.  

> She told me there was no way for me to follow up on this personally.

There should be a police report in written form for this incident, which you can request via the FOIA process. Here’s the form: [link]

Expect it to take 5 business days, and expect to pay $0.05 per page. The department is obliged to respond.

OK, Thanks for the clarification. It is good to see that your comment pertaining to “drunk” was based upon the input of those with better knowledge of the situation. There was some concern that your observation might have contained an automatic bias against those who enjoy the consumption of alcohol. I am not advocating driving while under the influence of alcohol but just want all to consider that the errant driver might have been a texting fan of twitter.

Understood. As a drinker, tweeter, and occasional texter myself, I’m acutely aware of the sensitivities inherent in these lifestyle choices. Also, as a followup: The city fixed the broken signal yesterday, and had the sign replaced by this afternoon. The system works!