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Police, firefighters form honor guard for state trooper killed in turnpike crash

UPDATE: The procession left Worcester shortly after 6 p.m.

Boston police officers and firefighters will be lining up in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Albany Street as the body of Trooper Thomas Clardy is moved from a hospital to the state medical examiner's office on Albany Street around 6 p.m.

WBZ reports Clardy was performing a traffic stop on the westbound side of the turnpike in Charlton when a car slammed into his cruiser, pushing it down an embankment. A Webster man faces charges for swerving across three lanes of traffic and slamming into Clardy's cruiser.


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Comments

iS this what's going on right now? (6 pm) so many police officers just sped by me and my 2 small children on Washington St, in Roxbury... scary.

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Was in a taxi heading from Logan to Roslindale at that exact time. During the whole ride we constantly saw hard to understand behavior by the BPD vehicles -- lights and sirens turned on, driving in the wrong traffic lane to jump the queue at intersections, blowing past multiple red lights etc. but none of them were speeding or driving in the fast/aggressive way you see when they are heading to an emergency. It was really odd.

Now I understand - they were trying to get to the ME's office in time to be in the procession.

Honestly I think they pretty much chose the right balance -- despite the lights/sirens and blowing red lights none of the marked cars we saw were actually speeding or driving in a dangerous way.

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If police cars responding to an emergency upsets you I would hate to see you get cut off in traffic or being around you after a rough day at work... Scary...

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I've got zero issue with aggressive response to emergencies

I do have issues with lights/sirens/aggressive methods used by officers going off shift or getting back from a detail

I do not believe that a massive "self deployment" to stand outside the ME office represents an "emergency" that justifies insanely aggressive and fast driving and I did not claim that was happening.

Perhaps my words were wrong but what I was trying to get across was that what I saw was totally appropriate -- lights and sirens being used to make headway but no super aggressive speeding or driving -- it was a completely legit balance to a tragedy without crossing the line of endangering the public for a non-emergency.

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A Webster man faces charges for swerving across three lanes of traffic

In a state that has a reputation for asshole drivers to begin with, this has to be the most asshole of moves. The guy who flies up the left lane than at the last minute cuts across three lanes to get to his exit, causing drivers to his right to hit the brakes.
Condolences to the trooper's family.

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I told my kids never to stop in a highway breakdown lane. If you have a flat, drive slowly with flashers on to the next exit. I can buy a new tire and rim. If you are pulled over by a cop, drive slowly to the next exit with your flashers on. I can pay the bail. If your car just goes dead on the highway, coast to the breakdown lane, get out of the passenger door, and call AAA from as far away from the car as you can get.

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Same here. Riddin the rim all the way until I can exit. I also will not stop for anyone on the side. If you run out of gas it's your fault entirely. If you look like you are stranded and in the cold/heat or any other danger I'll call the cops and have them come. No thanks you!

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Same here. Riddin the rim all the way until I can exit. I also will not stop for anyone on the side. If you run out of gas it's your fault entirely. If you look like you are stranded and in the cold/heat or any other danger I'll call the cops and have them come. No thanks you!

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Actually unless you can get up an embankment or over a substantial concrete median, or walk over to a nearby road, you're often "stuck" on the highway until the next exit anyway. Think of the expressway going through boston and Quincy etc. in those situations if your car dies your best bet is in your car with flashers on and seat belt on. If possible engine on to keep the airbags armed. Wait for police or tow truck that can block the lane and has bright lights.

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I told my kids never to stop in a highway breakdown lane. If you have a flat, drive slowly with flashers on to the next exit. I can buy a new tire and rim. If you are pulled over by a cop, drive slowly to the next exit with your flashers on. I can pay the bail. If your car just goes dead on the highway, coast to the breakdown lane, get out of the passenger door, and call AAA from as far away from the car as you can get.

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I drive home past Boston Medical Center and didn't hear the news before leaving work. Seeing the huge concentration of police cars around the area with streets blocked off.. I honestly had flashbacks to what that area looked like on the Marathon Bombing day. I hadn't realized I guess how close those emotions stay to the surface. I actually had to pull over and call a friend to find out what was going on because it was so upsetting.

Thoughts and love to his family and his family of troopers. Hard day.

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If it's PTSD, you should get help. Seriously. You don't want to live with it.

If it's not PTSD, then you might want to avoid equating an occasional memory of a bad time with PTSD. They're quite different.

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then you might want to avoid reading anything on the internet. Seriously.

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As someone who worked in the WTC and lived through 9/11 just a few month after having left a physically abusive marriage... and also being nearby during the Boston Marathon Bombing, I do actually have a diagnosis of PTSD and have worked through it for several years of therapy.

But yes, unexpected sights like that do serve as triggers. Just like loud noises or men yelling at women in public do.

But thanks for the concern.

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