Speed Kills

From the Des Moines Register:

Authorities investigating the death of a Des Moines police officer determined a piece of sheet rock in the middle of the road may have caused the officer to swerve.

Sean Wissink, 35, of Granger, died Feb. 11 from injuries he suffered in an automobile accident on Iowa Highway 141. He was enroute from his home to the Des Moines Airport.

Jim Saunders, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the agency which investigated the accident, said Wissink was going 81 mph at the time of the crash. Saunders said he believes the highway has a speed limit of 65 miles per hour.

Wissink was a 10-year veteran of the Des Moines Police Department.

Saunders also said a piece of sheet rock in the middle of the highway may have been the reason why Wissink suddenly swerved, then overcorrected, though he added the officer may have been trying to avoid a deer.

“We don’t know exactly what caused him to swerve,” Saunders said Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we’ll likely never know.”

A piece of sheet rock looks just like a deer, you know, so you can understand how the guy might have been confused.

And 81 mph? The speed limit on that stretch of road is 65 mph, if I'm not mistaken. Well, isn't it just typical of cops to ignore the laws that the rest of us little people have to abide by?