We have all seen the car that wanders across traffic lanes erratically moving down the road causing a safety risk to all on the roadway. As you pull by this slowly moving and meandering vehicle there is inevitably some person on their phone reading or sending a text. In the now society that we live in, it just doesn’t seem that the message can wait until the driver is, well, not driving.
Recently, there was an estimate of Crash Risk carried out by Thomas Dingus, Richard Hanowski, and Sheila Klaure, called Estimating Crash Risk . The research included “Naturalistic driving research”, which involves video cameras and “black box” type readings to precisely measure participants of a study as they would normally drive. The information includes driver recordings right up to impact in car crashes and close-calls. In essence, the results provide real life occurrences.
The research revealed that listening and talking on cell phones while driving is not particularly risky for standard consumer automobiles. The results did show that texting, typing, reading, dialing, and reaching for a phone create clear and present dangers to the driver and others on the roadway. The research concluded that vehicle manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers need to focus on minimizing interaction with devices while operating a vehicle, thereby minimizing eyes-off-road time. This seems to be a no-brainer. Keep your eyes on the road, but there is more to it than that. Distraction is more than just visual. Broken concentration where one is going back and forth from roadway to device appears to cause significant risk for a car crash. The research project suggests installing simple interfaces that lock out features while the vehicle is in motion as well as the use of auditory or voice interfaces.
A Washington County Justice of the Peace has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Washington County Arkansas located in Fayetteville against County Judge Joseph Wood and other county officials over alleged violations of Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) [1]
FOIA was first promulgated in 1967. Its purpose is to insure a vital democratic society by requiring that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that electors shall be advised of the conduct of public business by elected officials, and as such to allow the electorate or their representatives to learn and report on such activity. [2]
See the 5 News Online Article Here.
The complaint alleges that the Judge’s Chief of Staff, Carl Gales in addition to his duties as Chief of Staff continues to work in a private sector job as the Vice President of KAS Gales Company, Consulting Engineers located near the Fayetteville area. The complaint alleges that since becoming the Judge’s Chief of Staff, Gales has continued to perform outside work for his private firm despite being a full time employee of the county. Some of Gales work included work for the City of Tontitown as a representative engineer.
The complaint states:
In 2018, Washington County publicly posted on its website an Invitation to Bid,
RFP 2018-10 “Asphalt Overlay Construction,” seeking proposals from qualified vendors to complete overlays on approximately 27,130 linear feet of existing asphalt surfaces on South Klenc Road, Ervin Beeks Road, and Rocky Creek Road. The scope of work for the South Klenc Road portion of the RFP stated approximately 13,130 linear feet will be overlaid “beginning in Tontitown, at Highway 412 West intersection until the intersection at Arbor Acres Rd.” This section of Klenc Road is located in the city limits of Tontitown. KAS Gales Company is located at 18772 Harmon Road in Washington County, which is also where Gales resides. This address is located near the intersection of Harmon Road and Arbor Acres Road, approximately 1.5 miles from the overlay work to be completed on South Klenc Road pursuant to Washington County RFP 2018- 10. [3]
The Plaintiff, being a JP questioned why the County would be overlaying a road located within the city limits of Tontitown. The Plaintiff sought to inquire about this issue in an open budget meeting, but could not get any answers from the County Judge, Gales, or the chair of the budget committee, the suit alleges. As such the Plaintiff sent a FOIA request to the named defendants on November 15th, 2018, seeking public information pertaining to the overlay of road within Tontitown’s city limits and near Gales home. The suit also involves the Plaintiff seeking official county photos from an official county Veteran’s presentation. The suit alleges that there has been no response to the Plaintiff’s FOIA request. The Plaintiff seeks damages allowed under FOIA and the right to inspect and copy “Public Records.”
"Public
records" are defined as writings, recorded sounds, films, tapes,
electronic or computer-based information, or data compilations in any medium
required by law to be kept or otherwise kept and that constitute a record of
the performance or lack of performance of official functions that are or should
be carried out by a public official or employee, a governmental agency, or any
other agency or improvement district that is wholly or partially supported by
public funds or expending public funds. All records maintained in public
offices or by public employees within the scope of their employment shall be
presumed to be public records. [4]
Except as otherwise exempted by law all public records shall be open to
inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas during the
regular business hours of the custodian of the records so long as the request
is sufficiently specific to enable the public custodian to locate the records
with reasonable effort. [5]
Any citizen denied the rights granted to him or her by FOIA may appeal to the circuit court of the residence of the aggrieved party and is entitled to a hearing within seven (7) days of filing a suit seeking compliance with FOIA. [6] FOIA also involves a mechanism for obtaining costs and attorney fees if the Plaintiff substantially prevails on a claim for denial of rights under FOIA. [7]
This suit outlines why FOIA is necessary to a democratic society. If the allegations be true, it raises questions about the use of taxpayer funds for public official’s private interests.
Possible Criminal Charges
Each of the Defendants could potentially face criminal charges. Any person who negligently violates any of the provisions of FOIA shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. [8]
Rick Woods is a lawyer in Fayetteville, Arkansas handling most civil litigation issues, including FOIA claims, tort claims, environmental claims, construction, real estate, and death and injury claims. If you would like to discuss a claim, please call (479) 301-6423 for a free consultation.