Clear the air on crash

A North Brunswick Township Council candidate’s vague explanation of his Oct. 3 car accident has done little to quiet the voices of those with doubts about the way the situation was handled.

Democrat Ralph Andrews was charged with reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to report an accident the morning after he hit a car parked near his McCauliffe Drive home around 3 a.m. According to police, the impact of the crash pushed a third parked vehicle 100 feet into the roadway.

In public meetings and letters, some have pointed to a few details with particular suspicion:

• Andrews entered his home without reporting the accident (his neighbors did). Instead, he said, he “decided rather than wake up my neighbors in the middle of the night, I would speak with them in the morning,” and contacted the police the next day.

• Andrews did not answer the door when police knocked, and his statement skips whether he or anyone else was home at the time. Without authorization to enter his premises, the police left without talking to him.

• Andrews has not revealed where he was coming from at 3 a.m.

Andrews has dedicated a lot of time and effort over the years to serving a community that is no doubt thankful. But when considering this case, questions about whether he was given preferential treatment have a right to be asked. After all, if you didn’t answer your door under the same circumstances, would the police have left?

As of Tuesday — more than two weeks after the accident — basic accident and police reports were still not available to the public, even though similar documents can routinely be viewed every week.

The police should release these reports, and Andrews should answer all of his critics fully, openly and expeditiously so the campaign can focus on issues that affect all township residents.

A recent Andrews and Cathy Nicola campaign ad concludes that their Republican rivals “can’t get elected because they just can’t tell the people of North Brunswick the truth.” A candidate who campaigns on bringing open and honest government to the people should lead the charge.