Tragic incident should remind us of the responsibility we share when driving
I came across the post today, with the provocative title “Stupid Bitch Kills Children”.
The post contains a link to this CNN video of a woman attempting to outrun a train, and not succeeding. Two of her children were killed. Watch video
The resulting comment thread ranges from name-calling to discussions about removing stupidity from the gene pool. One comment nicely sums up the other comments:
Nice to see the moral majority out in full, judging a woman they don’t know from the security of their computer chairs. It does give one a warm feeling to make smug self-gratifying comments about a critically ill stranger who has just lost her two children, based on a CCTV tape of the worst moment in her life. Let’s all give ourselves a pat on the back just for not being her, safe in the knowledge that a woman on life support will be chastened by the judgements of the news watching cognoscenti.
But I couldn’t help myself, and felt the need to chime in. But instead of focusing on this one incident, I think it’s worthwhile to use this incident as a reminder about cars in general.
We can all agree that trying to outrun a train is stupid. There’s no denying that this decision was extremely short-sighted, with tragic and irreversible consequences.
But… we don’t know this woman, and it would be bad for us to jump to the convenient conclusion that she was some stereotypical idiot, label her a “stupid bitch”, and move on.
Every day, I see educated, upper-middle-class commuters demonstrating examples of similar stupidity on a regular basis.
I’m referring to those people that are immersed in their cell phone conversation instead of giving attention to pedestrians on crosswalks. Or those that are “multi-tasking” while driving. Or those speeding as if their lives depended on reaching their destination sooner.
According to the National Safety Council, the odds of dying in a motor vehicle accident are 1 in 84. Motor vehicle accidents are the 4th leading cause of death for Americans, following heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
But contrary to the old adage, driving is rarely viewed by Americans as a privilege; instead it’s perceived as a right and a necessity.
Like naive teenagers, too many drivers also seem to suffer from an invincibility complex, as if the 1-in-84 statistic doesn’t apply to them.
Sadly, this mother just added 2 of her children to that growing list of statistics.
My point: This is not just about one woman. Or at least it shouldn’t be. It should serve as a wake-up call to all of us, reminding us about the power we wield when we get behind the wheel.
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Goodness Jarrod. Well said.
1 in 84. That’s stunning. I looked it up, and the only more likely ways of dying in the U.S. are:
Stroke (1 in 24), cancer (1 in 7) and heart-disease (1 in 5).
Less likely ways of dying include firearm assault (1 in 314), bicycle accidents (1 in 4919) and airplane accidents (1 in 5051). Seems to me that cars are a very deadly American addiction. Wars on drugs, terror…shall we add cars to the list? Or at least make more car-free pedestrian zones?