Please tell me why....

[Lamplighter]

Within West Linn, Oregon:
Highway 43 is a two-lane, two-way street with bike lanes and sidewalks
along most of its frontage and a posted speed of 45 miles per hour
north of Cedaroak Drive and 35 miles per hour south of Cedaroak Drive.

It carries approximately 21,000 Average Daily Traffic at the northern city limit line,
with about 1,650 vehicles per hour (two-way) during the morning and evening peak rush hours.

Last night (3 am) a young man was speeding on Highway 43 near Cedar Oak Drive,
His car left the roadway and hit a tree. The driver was ejected and killed.

Police closed Highway 43 in both directions from 3:00 am until 10:00 am.
There are no other highway routes except through residential areas.
Traffic was jammed through out the area until almost noon.

Will someone please tell me ...
Why are police are closing roads for such long time periods ?
What are they doing that is so important ???

Police are acting as if there is no cost involved when hundreds of drivers are delayed.

[Aliantha]

There might have been a lot of stuff to clean up after a road death lamp.

[DucksNuts]

When my ex worked for SES, and attended road deaths (especially ejected driver accidents) they HAVE to work over every little section in metre by metre squares and pick up everything.

Wait for squads to analyse the skid marks, road damage, clean oil and petrol spills (which are awfully dangerous if not cleaned properly), collect car contents that might have been thrown out of the car for the investigation and coroner.

Some of these squads have to travel a fair distance to get to the site.

So, I can understand the frustration but there is usually something going on that warrants that kind of road closure.

[Bullitt]

What they said. There was a death, and there may have been pieces on the roadway. Everything has to be properly gathered, photos taken, crash site investigated, etc. etc. and the best answers come soonest after the crash, not from just photos later. They need to understand the mechanism of injury, and how it came to be.

[Trilby]

here in Ohio it's the same thing. If there is a death the roads are closed for hours.

Every night the news has a least two horrible vehicle accidents to report and 1/3 of the time there is a death involved.