The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "car crash" ...
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Driven To Distraction
This seven-month-long investigation revealed serious crashes, injuries and deaths caused by a danger that now exists in virtually every police car in the United States. Dashboard-mounted technology has turned modern patrol cars into offices on wheels. Computers, cameras, GPS devices, radios, smart phones and license plate scanners compete for the officer’s attention while driving, and the consequences of those distractions can be life altering. The series led to significant policy changes at two of the largest police departments in Texas. It sparked action from the world’s largest organization of police leaders. And our reporting also became mandatory safety training viewing for every highway trooper in one state.
Tags: Police; patrol cars; crashes; injuries; deaths; driving safety; highway trooper
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NC Auto Inspection's-Failing the Test
Every year, North Carolina auto owners must take vehicles to private garages for state-mandated safety and emissions testing meant to prevent traffic crashes and curb pollution. Drivers cannot put a car on the road legally unless it passes inspection. A review inspection data showed the program is undermined by unscrupulous garages who do a volume business, passing unsafe cars, and by other who take bribes or cheat customers with uncessary repairs.
Tags: auto owners; emissions testing; unsafe cars
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Crash Reports
The reporter finds that a new district attorney chooses not to follow up on pending negligent vehicular homicide cases, thereby enabling many of the drivers to continue driving on the road.
Tags: car accident; manslaughter; driver; district attorney; crash report
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Crash Course
A popular Florida referral service company had been attracting customers injured in car accidents. The company had been exploiting Florida's "no-fault" auto insurance law to mislead it's customers into giving money to a network of chiropractors and lawyers that pocketed their money.
Tags: fraud; scam; auto insurance; lawyer fraud
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Fatal Experience: Teen Drivers and Rural Roads
This series explores the issues of teen drivers and rural roads. "The purpose is to raise awareness and prevent additional accidents, not just among teens, but people of all ages." Though, it is a known fact that teens take more risks when driving, which lead to higher fatal accident rates. Further, a majority of these fatal accidents took place in one specific school district, which led to additional research.
Tags: accidents; teens; Tazewell County; Illinois; driving; rural roads; deaths; crashes; cars; vehicles; traffic; tragedy
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Fatal Freeway Design: HOV Lanes in North texas
"Despite official claims of success, WFAA-TV showed the design of the newly opened HOV carpool lanes in the Dallas area lead to a 40% spike in serious car crashes and directly contributed to three deaths."
Tags: hov; carpool; dallas; accidents; safety; highway; Texas; department of transportation;
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Small Town Justice
Jean Claude Meus was convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Florida Highway Patrol put together evidence showing Meus fell asleep at the wheel, lost control of his semi truck and overturned on minivan, killing a mother and daughter. The investigative team interviewed the first witness on the scene of the accident, who said Meus was alert and helpful immediately after the crash. Using evidence obtained from measurements, photos, etc., the asked an outside expert to map the scene and reconstruct the crash. The conclusion? Meus was awake and intentionally steered his truck off the roadway. The story fit with what Meus said, that he had swerved to avoid an oncoming car and lost control before overturning onto the van. When two jurors on the case agreed to meet with the new team and look at the new evidence, they concluded they would not have been able to convict Meus if this information had been presented at trial.
Tags: wrongful conviction; Florida; vehicular homicide; reconstructed evidence; mapping; highway patrol
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Right By Miles
This story looked back to a traffic accident six years ago (2002) in which a car driven by a teenager ran off a back country road in the middle of the night and his passenger, a 16-year-old named Miles White, was killed. The polk County Shriff's Office investigated, ruled it a single car accident and charged the 19-year-old driver with DUI-manslaughter. The Times was able to show that the sheriff's office had engaged in a cover-up. It was not a single-car crash; it was caused by a Polk County sheriff's deputy, who, as it turned out, was a sexual predator who like teenage boys. He chased the boys that night, hit their rear bumper and ran them off the road. The Times showed that before the accident, the sheriff's office had been warned that they had a deputy who was using his undercover vehicle to stalk teenage boys. They had not heeded that warning and left him on the road. If he then caused an accident that killed a boy, the department would have been on the hook for multimillion dollar damages in a wrongful death lawsuit. The office chose instead to cover up the truth.
Tags: sheriff's department; Florida; car accidents; cover-up; sexual predators; wrongful dath
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M.I.S.T
The investigation "uncovered a plan that began in the mid-1990s with the help of one of the nation's leading consultant firms, McKenzie, to force motorists to sue to recover costs for so-called soft tissue injuries. Led by the nation's two leading insurers, State Farm and Allstate, insurance companies developed a strategy of delay, deny and defend when it came to minor car crashes."
Tags: car crashes; accidents; insurance; injuries;
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Certified Dangerous: Used Cars' Airbags
An investigation of 1650 consumer complaints about the failure of airbags to deploy during car accidents such as head-on collisions, rollovers and broadside crashes. Some airbags are not replaced when the vehicle is being fixed after an accident, leaving the driver more succeptible to injury.
Tags: airbag; safety; t-bone; traffic; ford; gm; honda; kia; mitsubishi; nissan; volkswagen; auto accidents