Less than six months after becoming Butler County's district attorney, Randa Clark's work in organizing what she is calling the "Crash Team" should win praise from all responsible motorists.

The Crash Team can be the vehicle for avoiding missteps, omissions or wrong judgment calls that could hinder prosecutors from winning convictions, as well as more clearly and quickly determine when there are not sufficient factors for pursuing serious charges such as homicide by vehicle.

According to Clark, the team's first goal will be to set standard policies and procedures for investigators countywide to follow for every collision in which criminal liability is a possibility.

Had the crash team been operating on June 15, 2002, when a popular Mars School District teacher and wrestling coach was killed in a crash in Jefferson Township, the woman who caused the accident might not have walked away with the lenient plea bargain and sentence that she eventually received.

Because of the decisions made by police and other emergency responders in the immediate aftermath of the crash, it was not until about 90 minutes after the accident that a blood sample was drawn from the woman, who admitted to drinking prior to the crash. However, because so much time had elapsed between the accident and the drawing of the blood, Timothy McCune, then Butler County district attorney and now a county judge, could not prove that the woman, Jennifer Langston of Winfield Township, was actually intoxicated at the time of the crash, although officials suspected intoxication.

State police charged that Langston was drunk, speeding and talking on a cellular phone when she lost control of her pickup truck on Neupert Road and collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by Glenn Clark, the Mars teacher and coach, whose wife, Annette, was a passenger in the Clark vehicle.

The crash left Annette Clark in what was described as an irreversible coma. As of Tuesday, she remained at St. John Specialty Care Center in Mars, although personnel at the center would not comment on her condition.

Annette Clark, five months after the crash, gave birth by Caesarian section to the couple's only child.

Randa Clark and Glenn Clark were not related.

"Not all fatal accidents are criminal," Randa Clark was quoted as saying in a front-page article dealing with the Crash Team in Sunday's Butler Eagle. "Some are just horrible, horrible crashes. It is truly a case-by-case determination."

The district attorney said the team is needed countywide "because of the sheer number of fatalities." According to the DA's plan, all county police officers would be involved with the team and have some advanced training on policing accident scenes. The plan also calls for two accident reconstructionists and an assistant district attorney to be roadside for every collision in which criminal liability is a question.

The process would be uniform for every fatal crash.

A district attorney or assistant district attorney being called quickly to a fatal-accident scene is not a new concept. Even about 30 years ago in Blair County in Central Pennsylvania, it was common to see the district attorney with police investigators conferring about crash evidence prior to the wreckage being removed.

As confirmed by the investigatory lapses tied to the accident in which Glenn Clark died, the right decisions have to be made immediately. Having the investigatory and prosecutorial elements present, when criminal charges stemming from a serious accident seem likely, is without question essential.

In addition to collecting important evidence for a criminal trial, having the Crash Team at the scene can avert situations in which someone is prosecuted without a real justification for doing so.

Randa Clark merits praise for making the Crash Team among her first priorities since taking charge of the DA's office. Drivers throughout the county should welcome this important initiative.