The Lottery of Death !

This long weekend produced peak traffic loads on our roads, and just as inevitably the death toll rose, but one car crash caught the public attention to a marked degree.   A young family was helping their seventeen year old sister accrue the driving hours to gain her driving license by accompanying her as a driving instructor as required by law.   The husband was sitting beside the driver and his  23 year old wife was in the backseat.  Tragically, she was eight months pregnant - with twins.

This was a very normal driving scene, until they encountered another car travelling at high speed on the adjoining divided roadway.  That car lost control, crossed the grass stretch between the roads and crashed into them head-on, killing the seventeen year old driver and the pregnant woman - and her twins.   Her husband is in hospital with critical injuries and his survival is not certain.

The 29 year old speeding driver also suffered serious injuries and has been charged with manslaughter at a bedside court.   It is estimated that he was at least forty-five kph over the speed limit and did not have a valid driving license. He has a previous conviction history of driving without a license.

The loss of those unborn twins horrified many people and we await news about whether alcohol or drugs contributed to this tragedy. Yet speeding is something we encounter on a daily basis.  It is not uncommon to have a car whiz past us at velocity higher than the posted speed limit and that delivers a risk to all other on the road.  In due course, the man who killed four innocent people will face court and receive punishment for the crime.

What punishment can possible atone for the damage that has been done ?     A term in prison seems certain, but he will eventually be released and there is no certainty that time behind bars will cure his need for speed.   Simply cancelling his driving license will not remove the danger.   It is likely he will drive without a license with no respect for the law.

Fortunately, the average driver behaves sensibly for most of the time and the traffic usually curbs the opportunity to speed on many occasions, but when we get behind the wheel we are controlling a battering ram that consists of more than a tonne of metal that terrorists now consider to be a weapon of war.

Considering the number of cars on the road the deaths from car accidents is probably remarkably low but it is a fact of life that we face risk every time we get behind the wheel and drive.   When the news cameras record a sobering sight like the wreckage of those two cars demolished in a head-on, the effect on driver behaviour has a calming restraint.  Unfortunately, it does not last long.

Hopefully, a thought of those unborn twins tragically killed may resonate in some minds when our foot becomes impatient on the accelerator.