“Since the day the lieutenant governor crashed, we have investigated 16 fatal crashes on state roads–two of them double fatalities. But it is the lieutenant governor’s crash that so dominates the public discourse. Something’s wrong about that.’’
–State Police spokesman David Procopio
There is something wrong with the story of Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray’s car accident: The Boston Herald. There wouldn’t have been much of a story if the Boston Herald hadn’t filed a FOIA request for the black box in Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray’s car. Sure, it might have not have been continued as a story if the lieutenant governor weren’t so accepting of responsibility and so trusting of the state police, who muffed the analysis. Sometimes good character–trust and personal responsibility–can be a hindrance. At least in politics.
The state police have said they don’t usually release the black box when a state-owned car is in an accident. (They fought against (and lost) the release of the one in Murray’s car). The release, however, raised more questions about their accident analysis. Their explanation just didn’t fit the facts.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported:
“I don’t see evidence here of someone asleep,” said analyst James Verhasselt, who reviewed the data and discussed it with the Gazette on Wednesday. “I don’t see anything to support that theory.”
Black boxes, or event data recorders, are installed in most vehicles, and are designed to record data in the seconds before a crash. According to analysts, the computer data showed that Murray’s Crown Vic accelerated shortly before the crash.
Murray’s own explanations of the cause of the crash have varied. Immediately following the 5:30 a.m. crash, in which he was unhurt even though police say he was not wearing a seat belt, Murray said he had been driving around the speed limit, was wearing a seat belt and may have lost control of his vehicle because of black ice. He said he had taken the early-morning drive to assess recent storm damage and to fetch a newspaper and coffee.
Such drives are not unusual for him, Murray noted in a press conference Tuesday. He also requested an alcohol breath test at the crash scene, which showed he was not under the influence of alcohol.
Sleeping drivers don’t generally accelerate. Their foot usually comes off the gas pedal. Even after accident experts doubted the official interpretation of Murray’s accident, the lieutenant governor did not.
Veteran traffic safety researcher Jeffrey Muttart, who reviewed crash data from the vehicle’s “black box’’ at the Globe’s request, said Murray’s original account – that he had lost control due to icy conditions – may have been closer to the truth.
Muttart, a Connecticut-based researcher who teaches crash investigators at Northwestern University in Chicago, said Murray appears to have adjusted the steering wheel twice as the 14-second accident unfolded, suggesting he was trying to steer as the vehicle went out of control. Also, the speed of the spinning wheels increased rapidly even though Murray was not pressing the accelerator, suggesting that he had hit a patch of ice.
“It is highly unlikely that anyone would be sleeping,’’ wrote Muttart along with coauthor Jon Northrup in their 10-page analysis. Muttart added that Murray could have been sleepy before the accident, though “only the Lieutenant Governor knows for sure.’’
Our differently-winged friends will continue to question Murray. What was he doing at the time? Why was he 18 miles from home looking for coffee and a newspaper? Why not release his personal cellphone records? The reason to that last question (the first two are nobody’s business but his own) is clear from the release of the black box data: more information leads to more questions and more questions lead to more insinuations.
Murray paid the fines that went with the causes of the accident as it was interpreted by the state police. If his car actually hit black ice, he wouldn’t be guilty of speeding and falling asleep at the wheel. If I were Murray, I’d be tempted to ask for my money back so I could donate it to a worthier cause. It looks like he’s not going to do that. He’s got the back of the state police who muffed their analysis and helped put him in a jackpot.
I’ve never met Tim Murray, though I always hoped to support him when Deval Patrick leaves office. This incident had me worried, but given his actions I’m inclined to think of him as a stand-up guy.
you slam them for filing a FOIA?
Because information leads to questions, and questions lead to insinuations?
but I’m not writing about other things. Ranting about Dave Wedge’s plagiarism or Howie Carr’s douchiness isn’t relevant.
You’re not only missing what I said, you’re missing my point: the release of more information leads to more questions and more insinuations if/before it ever leads to truth. Calls for Murray to release his cell phone data would be damaging. Even though he’s innocent, he would fall victim to insinuating questions from opponents.
But anyway, thanks for… um, trolling.
So, yes I would criticize them for it. The only reason this is possibly any of the public’s business is because a state-owned vehicle was involved. The investigation should have been handled the way any investigation would be, no more nor less. This is exactly why I’m less enthusiastic than some on absolute transperency on things like correspondence, records, etc. People like the folks at the Herald will put the worst possible spin on it and undermine everyone’s confidence, which is ultimately not healthy for system.
You said it better than I.
Well, that and the fact that it was the second-highest elected official in the state driving it.
I’m happy to criticize the Herald when they deserve it. But for filing a FOIA? No way.
The Lowell Sun has done some pretty asinine (emphasis on ass) requests to fulfill their crappy agenda before, and despite freedom of the press and my love of transparency, they use FOIA exactly the way the Herald used it in this case – to bludgeon people they don’t like no matter what the real core of truth in the information really was about in the first place.
If Tim Murray had been driving his personal vehicle, his position probably would have been a news bite, but other than that it should have been absolutely no different than if you or I had crashed our own vehicles under similar circumstances.
There’s nothing here people, move on!
Let’s be grateful we did not have to mourn the tragic passing of the Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth of MA who is a hard-working, decent man, husband, father, son, brother and public servant. Who BTW, could be making a lot more $$$ and a more cushy life in private practice.
No more gawking, please. Move on.
I also think the state police are correct, despite the expert analysis to the contrary on both this site and from the Globe’s guy.
First the Globe reported that the Staties had said black ice. Based on that, Murray blamed black ice.
But when the police reversed themselves and said Murray probably fell asleep, he said, Okay, I do not remember falling asleep, but I guess that is what happened.
Now the Globe is beating up on Murray for his “shifting explanations for the crash.” Say what?
As far as I can tell, Murray’s explanation (other than, thank goodness I am still alive) is, whatever the state police say happened, happened. That might be wrong, too, but if so it’s the SP who are wrong and the SP whose position’s have “shifted.”
David make a good point, the media has every right to file FOIA requests to get to the the truth of any matter. But, they should not abuse that right by using it to conduct a fishing expedition to generate headlines and copy. The media scrum that developed around this simple car accident was so over the top it took on a bizarre edge and led to even more bizarre rumor mongering by Murray’s political opponents. They were quick to accuse, quick to surmise, quick to reject, quick to imply, quick to spread false rumor, but rest assured they will not be in a hurry to recant…but, they should be.
As Rev. Johnson said at yesterday’s MLK Breakfast in Central Mass. (where people really know Tim Murray):
“Think about the legacy of life and leadership of Dr. King,” Mr. Johnson said. “Think about Tim. I think about a man who has made a difference. He will not wait for justice. He will not wait for equality. He will not wait for freedom. Timothy Murray is a man of integrity; a man who fights for his community.” Rev. Johnson knows a good man when he meets one!
“like” button?
In my view, the worst and most depressing aspect of this whole episode is the woeful and willful ignorance of virtually every party involved.
The data from the black box isn’t hard to analyze, and doesn’t support any of the speculative fantasies, innuendo, and downright slander that have dominated this entire sorry charade. I am appalled that the State Police so blindly reported the clearly impossible “108MPH” speed as if it were a fact issued from on high. I am appalled the once the data was out, NOBODY in the media bothered to either analyze it themselves (presumably every reporter has a high school diploma) or have an “expert” do it for them. It takes a high school physics course (simple mechanics) and sixty seconds of Google to learn that the Crown Victoria driven by Tim Murrray could not have done what the police said.
The Globe belatedly did just that, and concluded:
Even this piece turns handsprings trying to manufacture scandal where there is none. The second half of the above lead (emphasis mine)?
Rather than admit that the entire story is a non-story, that the analysis done by the Globe’s own analyst (“veteran traffic safety researcher Jeffrey Muttart”) demonstrates that is a non-story, the Globe instead clumsily tries to fan this last ember of a dead story back into life with its “raising still more questions” foolishness.
Here are some questions the Globe surely WON’T ask:
1. Why didn’t the reporters IMMEDIATELY look at the performance data from the vehicle, when it was released?
2. Once the Globe reporters had the analysis, why didn’t they ask the State Police why the “official” analysis was so incompetent?
3. Why is the Globe so focused on manufacturing scandal than on discovering and reporting what actually happened?
Meanwhile, the most important nugget from this piece is buried at the end (emphasis mine):
Not only did Mr. Murray not “deliberately” speed up to 108MPH, the vehicle probably never achieved that speed.
I can’t think of another example that so clearly demonstrates the woeful and willful ignorance of our government (in the State Police), our media, and too many of our participants here (“I also think the state police are correct, despite the expert analysis to the contrary on both this site and from the Globe’s guy”).
This is now the news story, either they are completely incompetent in accident reconstruction or they were attempting to cover for the LG.
There really aren’t any other explanations.
So your theory is that the state police decided the best way to “cover” for the LG was to completely and very publicly contradict each element of Murray’s original explanation (that ice was the cause of the accident, that he was not speeding and was wearing his seat belt)? It benefited the LG to have them contradict his story completely, reveal that he was probably not wearing his seat belt, and suggest that he was going over 108 mph at the time of the accident. Do tell, mg, do tell.
You wrote above:
I make the perhaps rash assumption that you, too, have a high school diploma. So surely you took and passed a high school physics course that covered simple mechanics. You acknowledge that “expert analysis” is available to you. Yet you persist in rejecting simple facts, straightforward logic using information in your possession, and instead continue to try and reach for some speculative tin-hat scandal.
The State Police blew the analysis. Their motivation doesn’t matter; they blew the analysis. As theloquaciousliberal sagely observes, they certainly aren’t providing any “cover” for Tim Murray. If anything, the State Police seem to be working overtime to make life worse for Mr. Murray.
They screwed up. The media screwed up. As I commented earlier, both were parties displayed either ignorance, incompetence, or both. I don’t know if that’s a “news story” or not, but that remains the salient truth.
A capable, popular, and competent public official survived a potentially deadly crash — a crash that could have happened to anyone (driving at 75 MPH on I190 is, in my experience, pretty much universal — the State Police routinely ignore such vehicles) .
The happy outcome of Mr. Murray’s crash is good news that should make any normally compassionate human being happy.
out looking best in all of this. In some (but not all) regards, it would be expedient to blame the state police for making him look bad, but Murray doesn’t. Instead he accepts responsibility and moves along. He’s stuck with the state police interpretation and hasn’t thrown them under the bus. It cost him some money and some bad publicity. I think he does a stand-up thing.
Whenever someone–Merrimack Guy, in this case–posits some sort of conspiracy, I compare it to this null hypothesis: could events have been caused by mistakes or people unthinkingly following the status quo? In my experience, mistakes, disorganization, and incompetence result in problems than malfeasance does.
In this case, the state police were probably not too worried about investigating the accident. Murray wasn’t drunk. No crime was committed.
Why bother? It’s over. No crime committed. Why did they change their analysis? Liveandletlive points this out. Who knows? Is incompetence or laziness or what the cause? We don’t know. Bad judgment on their part seems to be the most reasonable explanation.
Someone has to be wrong. If you say the SP are wrong, then Murray’s got to be wrong. If the Globe Guy/BMG experts are wrong, then all that physics discussed clearly is wrong.
Murray: I hit black ice
SP: No you were asleep
Murray: I was asleep
Globe Guy/BMG: Really looks like black ice
Murray: Nope I was asleep
As everyone is testifying to what a decent guy that Murray is, it appears there’s no way he could be wrong, so I guess the SP are right as well.
So now I have convinced myself that physics is wrong. Who knew?
n/t
SP: He hit black ice.
Murray: Apparently I hit black ice.
SP: Oops no, actually he fell asleep, there was no black ice
Murray: Okay, I guess I fell asleep.
Bored Haters: What a scandal this is because of, um something.
at least this has a little mystery to it.
You get my vote.