Good morning....
Yesterday, I got up and went about my normal chores. I got my paycheck right around Christmas and could not get to the bank, so after DH left for work, I got ready to head out and go do a little errand running. I drive into town and see that there is mass chaos going on; police, fire and ambulance all in high speed. Wondering what is going on, I see a police car parked in the bank parking lot and an officer directing traffic at the tracks. As he is telling me to keep moving, I motion that I am trying to turn into the bank's drive through. Wondering what is going on, I figured that I would wait until I finish my business at the bank to ask the officer.
I live in a suburb of Chicago. Nothing really serious happens here, but when it does.... the news spreads like wildfire. Not all of it is completely accurate, but the obvious point does get across.
Well, after finishing what I needed to do at the bank, it was painfully obvious that something happened and that there was a train involved. From where I was, you could not make out that there was a mangled car on the tracks in front of a stopped train. As I tried to ask the officer what was happening, I got brushed off and told to keep moving. The curious side of me figured that I should seek out the answers, but I still had a few more errands to finish. I saved my last errand (which seemed to be very close to all the commotion) for last. If things were still chaotic when I returned, I had no doubt that I would find out what is happening. Needless to say... they were and I got close enough to see that a terrible accident happened. A car was hit by an express train and lost. The media's reports were a little slow in the condition of the driver, but I knew with just one look that it was not going to be good news. Suddenly, I wondered if it was someone I knew. My brother drives past these tracks every morning, and so does DH. A sick feeling in the pit of my stomach formed, but after taking a long, hard look at the wreckage, the only thing that I could offer as any comparison to if it was from a vehicle I knew was by the tires. There were only 2 tires visible and one had its rim still on. Mangled metal that was once a brand of car, truck, or minivan is no longer recognizable as what it was before impact. Thinking hard in my memory banks of what the tires looked like on vehicles I knew came back that it was not my brother's truck and thankfully it was not DH's truck. Feeling saddened that such a serious accident happened, I started to wonder why tragedies like this happen. Was it ignorance to the safety gate to try to save a few minutes off their commute to somewhere? Did the car die on the tracks and could not be moved in time? Were they trapped in front of the gate with nowhere to move to? These were the obvious questions because accidents like this are avoidable. Then I wondered about that person's family and friends. The loss that they are going to hear about; the devastation this causes and how sympathy is just not enough to ease the pain of sudden loss. What about the conductor on the train? Especially an express train that is not capable of stopping on a dime. The horror that person endured having a front row seat to killing someone because there was nothing that they could do. In all reality, slamming the brakes could cause more damage and injury to those they were transporting, and trying to turn the wheel to avoid the incident is not feasible if you are riding rails.... This disaster could not be avoided from the conductor's point of view, but I guarantee that they wish they could.
I guess what comes to mind is how an accident gets the label of being an accident. You would figure that accidents happen and are rarely avoidable, but is it an accident if there was safety implementations in place? Think about it.... While I was not there to see what happened (as it happened), nor do I know the thought process of a person's actions... what if the reason was because of tempting fate? People go around the downed safety gates all the time. The number one reason is because of impatience; they have no available time to wait for the train to pass because they need to get to where they are going----NOW. How about people that decide to drive after drinking. Is it because they don't have the cash for a cab? Are they afraid that their car will get towed? Are they overly confident from all that "liquid courage" that they can drive just fine? How about those that have a "lead foot" when it comes to driving. Is getting somewhere always a race because of poor time management skills? Or the thrill of going fast? Now, there are just as many accidents caused by overly cautious drivers as well. Fear of the yellow light comes to mind, slamming on the brakes because that little reminder sign just clocked you going a whole 2mph over the posted limit, and fear to drive near the speed limit because they feel their judgement is impaired if they go too fast. While the speeders feel that the speed limit is a guideline of how slow you can go, the overly cautious ones feel that the speed limit is just that.... the maximum speed to go. How about tailgaters that feel empowered to ride the bumper of someone that is not going fast enough. Or the overly aggressive ones that cut people off and slam their brakes just because they have an ax to grind and you are there to take it. What about the ones that grab life by the horns and do things in excess? We do have limits, ya know, but ignore the signs. Drugs and alcohol kill, too. Really, is accidents the way to go if you know they can be avoidable? Is it worth the risk if you can end up dead?
While I can see some people being adrenaline junkies and love to live on the edge, I wonder if they saw a horrific accident... would they think a little more?
No comments:
Post a Comment