A Tsunami of Ignorance
Every now and then we read about road crashes involving some insane number of vehicles, some involving less than a hundred, but sometimes more than a hundred are involved. I think China holds the record for some shocking number that came to a sticky end.
I was trying to imagine what it must be like to be in the midst of all of that sort of thing. I have no doubt that there are some of you who have been a victim, so you will be the experts. I have been very lucky so far, plus I think my style of driving might have saved me from the experience.
These events seem to grow out of very dangerous driving weather situations. I have found myself in such situations, particularly in Canada. The one thing that seems to be at work that contributes to massive wrecks is sheer stupidity. If we are driving in exceptionally heavy rain or fog, or blizzard conditions, common sense demands that we slow down, and stop along the side of the road if we have to.
Well no! These conditions tends to bring out every imbecile on the planet. None of us can see the road ahead, so what the hell are the drivers doing who pass you by going at top speed as though it's a sunny day. Of course they are kamikazes looking for a place to crash. The first time I found myself in a snow blizzard I was in Canada on my way to the airport to catch a plane.Other drivers scared me so much that the first motel I could see I pulled into their parking lot and went to bed. I lived to catch the plane another day.
To run into vehicles ahead that have crashed into one another, then to have other vehicles crash into my car, and to hear the bedlam go on and on, locking me into a big scrap heap of metal and injured bodies for hours and hours is my idea of a living hell. There will be as many stories as there are people who survive to tell them, but the fact is that these events are traceable to sheer human stupidity. If I had the power, when I see people being so irresponsible I would incapacitate them so they could no longer pose a threat to other humans.
Sometimes, my fellow human beings tax my patience to the limit!
Copyright (c) 2011 Eugene Carmichael
