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Mary Jo Kopechne Chappaquiddick — Part 1
Page 19
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i159 feet, it would probl@® be a Good place for besinre=s learains
to Grive. Here are a fey—rore excerpts rrom this i @y prores~
fy
sional ana technical study and report (pp- 92-95, T Inauest)-
nc
ore, *
Approaching the bridge, the read is straight for at least
3/10 of a mile, exceft for the last 150 feet. A 1% downgrade 3
extends. from 630 feet to within 100 feet of the pridage. (Note: *:
Ox egoungrade is practically leve? and this is probably the amend
"hill" referred to in the statement given to Chief Arena, pase mS
17.*) Vegetation on the right at @ @istance of about 120 feet . ¥
from the bridge forces one to turn to the left, so that high- is,
beam headlights do not illuminate the bridge at this point.
Just as one turns back to the yight at between 9)" ana 30' from
the bridge, one’s lights are deflected sharply upward so that
again the bridge is not illuminated. The rapid right turn, left
turn, and sharp upward deflection are not only distracting but
‘also make it aifficult to see the bridge before one 15 on it.
tet AE
Sounds gruesome s doesn't it? What this report does not te~
veal (in The Inquest) is the approximate point .in distance rrom
which the bridge is first illuminated when @riving at night and
becomes visible. Neither does it reveal that the road widens "°"~
ceptibly well before reaching the Malm house ana that the *cjosics>
connected curves” are actually very: very gentle S-curves, SO geEnr
tle that they can be negotiatea practically without turning tne
wheels by permitting the path of a vyehicie to be almost straight
and approach the left lane momentarily as it progresses, the
roadway turning slightly to the right, thus keeping the bridge in
view. Thus it is, too, with the "vegetation on the right" that
"forces" a turn to tne left. it is part of a excltler, but also
gentle, S-curve. in other words, the rapid tverrs are necessitatec
~ only if ine @rive: hugs tne right side of this jittle-traveled
road, and the losses of view of the bridge resulting therefrom are
only momentary yes, to be sure, this is "driving by the book"
and-is technically correct, but any normal, experiences ariver,
especially when driving on an unpaved country road with no Janc
markings, and when it is obvious that no risk exists with respect
zo another oncoming vehicle, will permit his car to ease fron one
_gide to the other to straighten out gentle curves. Buc here is
some more-~
~y
' The motion picture (ves!--Auth.) shows that the pridge is
visible for a period of less than three secends prior to the
accident if the car approached the bridge eat 20 miles per hour.
the series of still pictures shows that at distances in
excess of 100 fret from the bridge that the high-beam headlights
strike the ground for a long period of time well in front of
ana to the left of the pridge.’ Just 35 the headlights came
right, towara the bridge, at.a distance of betveen 100 feet and
50 feet. the headlignts are tipped up sharply by tne rising
terrain.
qhere is even more of such description and, if one is not
“- 32 -
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