Did Movie Watching Delay Response to Fatal Accident?

Three Colorado State Patrol dispatchers have been put on paid leave during an investigation into the handling of a 911 call reporting a dead deer in the traffic lanes of Interstate 25 south of Colorado Springs last week. A trooper wasn’t dispatched for 10 minutes, and then four minutes later a motorist swerved to avoid the deer, the vehicle overturned and the driver was killed and a passenger seriously injured. According to State Patrol officials, one of the dispatchers was watching “a Christmas movie” during the incident, which may have contributed to the 10-minute dispatch delay. As it turned out, two KRDO-TV employees struck the deer on the highway, and they dialed 911 to report the dead deer was still in the roadway. A dispatcher told the TV employees to dial *CSP directly, and they did. The information was entered into CAD, but apparently was not immediately radioed to a trooper. It’s not clear if a trooper would have arrived in time to prevent the accident, even if the incident had been promptly dispatched, officials noted. State Patrol officials said the delay was noted by another dispatcher and brought to a supervisor’s attention. A spokesperson said the Patrol has taken measures, “to ensure that issue of distraction is being identified and eliminated from any workplace.” Read more about the incident here.