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mca, etna miaon tes ace - aaron nar taninrtd writ sis meee oT a3 ee ele, swept away on a wave (Ores for the Senator, e is forced to ask a few questions. Va starter, with such hof ¥dous terrain (surely, the Senator must have realized there was-nothing like this on the paved road between the cook-out cottage and the ferry!) what normal driver would not drastically reduce speed? Did Mr. Crimmins do so? Incidentally, that cited photo in Time clearly shows the probable "rising terrain” as a bump that extends pretty much alk the way across the road, unless what was meant in every~ day language as a *ajp". Mr. Jones and his party evidently missed this photo (hor @id the Senator miss it?)--but Mz. Jones, also, is. an honorable man; 50 are theyall, all, honorable men (and women). | And then there was Mary Jo, who had been over the route to - ana from the ferry not just twice that aay (as-had the Senator). but five times. Did she notice nothing anomalous about going down ~ pike Road? If she did, 6ia she mention it to the Senator? And if -ghe @id, did the Senator pay no attention? Did it not jog his own memory? ° , And what about the mobbomatee warning sign on the roadside prior to reaching the Sunction with Dike Road, with an arrow and the words "To the Ferry" in reflector-type illumination? (This was not mentioned in the inquest.) ° . Less than three seconds' visibility, did he say? All rioht, two and three-quarters. So we deduct an excessively long tnr*: quarters of a second for reaction time (according to Inspector Ken- nedy) and we have two seconds left, or 59.8 feet from the edge of the bridge. Shall we Say 60? Now, the 25 feet the Inspector had given for stopping at 20 miles per hour was on dry macadam and, a Little later in his testimony, he said "On wood, the car would ‘travel much farther." This js believabie. in fact, part of the _. study conducted by Mr. Jones included the testing of a 1969 Chevro- -~rket at Dike Bridge in Sentember 1965, when it reauired 33 feet to € stop, the brakes naving heen arplied the moment the front wheels_ touched the bridge traveling at 20 miles per hour. (He even got the Inspector and the Chief in the act, the brake testing being done in the presence of the former, with the latter clocking the speeds.) This still leaves 27 feet of bumpy Dike Road, plus the 18 feet from the edge of the bridge to the point on the right rub rail where he went over, making 45 feet of roadway and bridge be- tween the vehicie and Poucha Pond efter reaction time ana expand- ed stopping distance, during which it is uncertain whether Mr. Kennedy (the Senator, that is) actually applied his brakes. === This was an expensive report, undertaken, hr. Jones said, at the request of Ropes & Gray, Attorneys at Law. Need we ask who requested Ropes & Gray, Esqs-, to reauest Frederic R. Harris, 1nCeys eee tate ord rene edits ef GE Consulting Engineers, to make the stucy? poecording to a state- - ment in the intreductory portion of the exhibit, the inspection of the road and pridge was madc on December 29 and 30, 1969, Just a week before the inquest. Why? Did the Senatcr think the resi- dents of Martha's Vineyard were unaware of the condition of che. roa@ and bridge, or was ne afraid it might go further and be the concern of others lacking first-hand familiarity? It did. ce cee eres ae og ee eeenme gt ame emanate mg ae oe Yoake a ws Seed ae