It had to Happen!

The arm of a Dummy


We have all seen those drivers who cruise along with their left or right arm (depending what side the steering wheel is on) carelessly hanging out of the car window, sometimes with a cigarette in hand, or at other times gesturing as they have a conversation with their passenger.  I was following just such a driver recently when we were faced by an oncoming massive truck. It didn't occur to the car driver to pull his arm in.

I have been watching a National geographic program recently called 1000 ways in which to die. Other than being gruesome it really is a good program from the standpoint of pointing out the importance of thinking before we act. To take just a second to ask ourselves whether what we are about to do makes sense could make all the difference.

A classic personal example is something I do a lot. As I get to travel along certain roads and I get to know those roads well, I assess the danger potential from the standpoint of what could possibly happen. There is a long, almost straight dual carriage-way road leading up to my town. There is usually a temptation to put the pedal down as there are generally no police around. However, except the first time that I did it I have resisted a second experience because along that road there are several entrances from the fields.

Sure enough, I came upon a bad crash where one car was overtaking another only to crash into a thrid car that was entering the main road, but he had stuck his nose out too far. It was bound to happen, sooner or later.

Along our three kilometre estate road there are three stop signs that are habitually ignored. I have seen several near crashes, one involving a police car into which I would have crashed had I not taken the precaution that the other driver might not have stopped. Last month there occurred a broadside crash that brought an ambulance and three police cars, so complicated was it. That was bound to happen sooner, or later.

Now, the inevitable has happened. A passenger in a car travelling with his arm dangling out the window had it ripped off as the car passed too close to the side railing which acted like a razor blade. This is even worse than being the driver and was like just asking for it to happen. He was on the land side and he was not in control of the vehicle. Any movement by the driver to give more space to oncoming traffic could have been the cause of being right up against the railing. Apparently there was no damage to the car, so had the passenger had his arm in the car there would have been nothing to talk about. Now we have an example to quote to warn others not to do the same thing.

His arm was found and an attempt was considered for reattachment, however, it was too badly damaged and had to be discarded. So, this is a cautionary tale to us all.

Another thing that just has to happen will take place on an old fashioned train where you can open the windows and stick your head out to get a better view. Ugh!

Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael