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I really needed to get to work on time this morning, but, once I headed westbound on Hwy 72 from Killen, I quickly discovered that traffic was held up as far as I could see. When, after 45 minutes of inching along, I reached the site of the problem, I saw no crash debris on the road, no wrecked vehicles blocking the lanes; rather, I saw three Florence police cars completely blocking the left lane. The officers were all standing around yukking it up with a tow truck driver who had loaded a small motorcycle with no obvious damage onto the bed of his truck. The tow truck, facing eastbound, was not in any of the traffic lanes. There was no reason whatsoever for the police to continue to leave all their vehicles on the highway, blocking westbound morning traffic for miles. These officers were obstructing traffic and inconveniencing hundreds of drivers for no legitimate reason whatsoever. I know leaving the police cars in the traffic lane was not necessary because I’ve held a driver’s license in 7 different states and driven in dozens of others over 45 years of driving, and I have never seen accidents handled so poorly as they are here in the Shoals. Everywhere else I’ve ever lived or driven, officers make sure that traffic lanes are cleared and traffic is kept moving just as soon as possible following an incident. Here, they just don’t seem to care.

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The accident was just around the Boating store and was in the West bound lanes. It was a car/motorcycle accident and I haven't heard any more about it so I don't know the extent of the injuries but there was an ambulance on site and, at the time I drove past, but given that it was a motorcycle you can pretty much say someone was hurt requiring medical treatment.  As for debris I can assure you there was debris on the road as I saw it strewn over the left lane on the West bound side.

As for the blockage of the lane, I will only suggest this.  There has been several accidents along that stretch of road including one that was a fatality.  Even with little damage to the motorcycle you can be assured that the driver wasn't as lucky and quite possibly could have been a fatality as well.   IF, and I say IF, that was the case then there is a requirement for a very detailed study and investigation to take place and that would require blocking off the area around the accident for a while as the investigation takes place.   Again I don't know the status of the driver and I would assume if the accident was a fatality that the Time's Daily would have an article highlighting it but even with most accidents, especially motorcycle accidents, there is an investigation.

I too have lived many other places and I know in Atlanta the just a trooper writing a ticket causes a thirty minute backup what with people  rubbernecking as it's just human nature with many.  What I can say is the worst traffic imaginable in Florence beats the best traffic I've encountered in Atlanta.   I don't know but you might give the officers a break because they may have been doing their job investigating the accident before traffic scattered what remaining debris and evidence may have been left.   I don't know but that's what I would guess and after their investigation, which they are required to do, then they went on about their way.

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