Tragedy

Tragedy keeps happening.  A couple of days ago two women were hit and killed in the intersection nearest my brother's house.  It happened about 10-20 minutes after I drove through the intersection on my way to work.  I drive through it everyday, everyday since I moved in with my brother.

It is a horrible intersection because cars on the busy street are going 40 miles per hour and over, coming around a blind corner one way and down a hill the other way.  It is hard to see and you really have to be ready to get your butt moving if you are turning left out onto the busy road.  I hate turning there.  Not to mention that, at that time in the morning, the sun shines right into drivers' eyes as they go east, making it almost impossible to see for quite a distance.

Two women and a child attempted to cross the street and were struck by a car.  The women died at the scene and the baby was taken to the hospital.  The mother of the baby had four children, four children who are now without a mother in their lives.  She and her friend had just walked them to school and were on their way home.  It just reaffirms that you never now when your last moment is going to be.  Life is fragile.  It is so unsettling to see it snatched away so quickly.

I feel horrible for everyone involved.  The child who survived, the families and the driver and her family.  I think it is easy to be angry and throw blame at both sides.  The driver hit them in the street without breaking, witnesses say.  The women were crossing a busy 5 lane street in a bad spot.

One thing I don't agree with is the driver is being cited for hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk.  As horrible as it sounds, I hope she fights that charge because it is not a crosswalk.  I go past there everyday and I have never seen a pedestrian try to cross there.  It is not marked as a crosswalk.  And there are safe crossing locations within less than a block in both directions, a marked crosswalk and a tunnel under the road.  The driver should have driven more carefully and slowed down if the sun was in her eyes and the women should not have crossed in an unmarked zone.  Both are crimes.  However, both are things that I bet EVERY person has done at one time or another.  It is just a horrible accident that it happened at the same time.

If I ever have kids, not only will they be taught to look both ways, but they'll be taught only to cross in crosswalks.  Come to think of it, I will only be crossing in crosswalks from now on.  The alternative is just not worth it.

I do hope all parties involved find a way to heal in their lives.