Another piece of evidence that the vehicle crash ID mixup in Indiana had nothing to do with the elected-cornoner system -- a similar mixup in 2004 in Michigan, which has a medical-examiner system. And there, they're looking in the right direction for improvement, changing state law:
Spurred by the mixed identity tragedies of Bohatch and Don and Susie VanRyn, who last week learned their daughter died in an April 26 crash in Indiana, state Rep. Michael Sak said Wednesday he will propose legislation requiring the use of DNA, dental records or fingerprints to confirm the identity of crash victims.
Sak, D-Grand Rapids, doesn't believe the use of scientific means is warranted in all fatalities. He is working with medical examiners to find instances when it would be helpful, such as the car-van crash that killed VanRyn, 22, of Caledonia, and left fellow Taylor University student Whitney Cerak, 19, of Gaylord, in a Spectrum Health rehabilitation unit.
