This morning there was a nasty accident on the highway right next to Kryptiq. I was on my way to the office at the time and got stuck in the ensuing traffic jam. The eastbound lanes of Highway 26 turned into a parking lot for miles, and what's normally a five minute jaunt ended up taking about 40 minutes.

Though the accident scene itself was pretty spectacular (one car was left twisted and mangled on the freeway while another ended up all the way over in Kryptiq's east parking lot, a hundred feet or so from the freeway), what was even more astonishing was the downright retarded behavior of the Hillsboro police officers who were trying to get to the scene.

I was stuck in unmoving traffic about a mile up the road from the accident when I heard the first siren approaching from behind. Like everyone else, I instantly attempted to get my car as far over onto the right shoulder as possible. In Oregon, as in most states in the US, it's actually against the law not to pull over to the right if possible when you hear a siren approaching.

I noticed an odd commotion in my rearview mirror and realized that the two lanes of bumper to bumper traffic that had wedged themselves over to the right were now trying to wedge themselves back over to the left, but the original wedging had left little room to maneuver, so there were cars pointing every which way, some going forward, some going backward. Out of the chaos came a Hillsboro Police Department squad car squeezing through on the right shoulder, blaring its sirens and horn at everyone who had just created a lane for it on the left shoulder.

As soon as everyone had wedged themselves to the left and let the cop through, another siren approached, this one attached to a very big, very angry-sounding firetruck that was trying to get through on the left. Once again, both lanes of traffic went into a chaotic frenzy trying to move back to the right shoulder. Shortly after the fire truck came an ambulance on the left, then two motorcycle cops on the right and one more on the left, just to rub it in.

I sure feel safe knowing the Hillsboro PD has such high hiring standards.

Oh, and for the concerned, the accident apparently only resulted in a broken arm and a few bruises despite the horrifically mangled cars.

Obligatory disclaimer: It should go without saying, but my opinions on the actions of the Hillsboro PD (and on anything else discussed on this blog) are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Kryptiq or anyone else.