Blog Archive

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Disaster on a straight Road


Don't fall asleep on a long straight Road

I suppose being a trained crash investigator you likely would not be as confused as us laymen when coming upon a crash site. For the general public, it can be very difficult to piece together how something happened. What first appears to be the likely scenario need not be the facts of the matter at all.

For instance, I came upon a scene where there had been a head-on collision on a blind corner. Was it possible that the offending car was taking the corner on the wrong side? I suppose that was possible but it would have been a death wish.

Another road crash happened on a bridge with two-way traffic. It seems that a vehicle, that had been taken away, had side-swiped the right hand side security railing, continued on across the road and slammed into the left railing without involving another vehicle.

How does this happen? It has to involve carelessness. I have seen how some people drive while talking on the phone or talking to a passenger while looking at that person. All it takes is a turn of the head by a very little degree and the hand follows. This happens to the most careful drivers and might involve simply turning the radio or the air-conditioning unit on.

Then there are the super drivers who are indestructible. They whiz in and out of traffic lines, always at speed with the attitude that nothing can harm them. I think I understand this attitude because I have been there and done that. But this type of stupidity is dangerous and probably will cause somebody’s family a lot of grief.

The latest incident that is causing me to scratch my head was a car that I watched being hauled out of the side of the road. The car was a total loss and was completely covered with brown earth. Evidently it had rolled several times grinding up the earth like a farm machine. This happened along a straight stretch of road and within a fairly short distance.

Alice, in her Wonderland would say, “curiouser and curiouser!

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael