Wednesday, May 17, 2006

You just don't know

My extended family and I are very close. On my moms side of the family I have 4 cousins and three of which I see on a regular basis. The fourth is dearly missed as he is dealing with a falling out with part of the family and staying away. My aunt and them are very dear to me just like my parents and siblings. I know my ex husbands family was not like ours and he really did not grasp how it was for us. We know that we have each other...its such a strong sense of love, support and loyalty that is like nothing else. I cherish it with my very being.

They all live within an hours drive north of me...well actually for some of them the commute has grown to almost an hour and a half because of all the growth in the area in which they all live. With all that growth comes a great deal of traffic...with additional traffic comes more accidents.

I don't know if the additional traffic in an area so rural is the cause, but it seems that there are more fatal accidents in that area than any other in this state. Every time I hear about an accident on the freeways near there...I cringe...I hold my breath...I look closely at the pictures on the screen.....I don't wish that on anyone but the fear of losing them...I just pray that it was not them...

Over the weekend there was an accident that killed on high school girl. I didn't hear much about the accident except that it was a bunch of girls in a car leaving a party. They named the area and I thought the school district..so it wasn't my cousins family's..I was sad for the families...but also relieved.

I usually make an almost instant call to my cousins to make sure it wasn't them or anyone they know...for some reason I did not this time...I don't know why..

I talked to my cousin, who is my best friend, yesterday just checking in like I very often do..and she sounded very tired. She said it had been a rough couple of days...I asked her why...she asked if I had heard about the accident...I had but thought it was in a different area..it wasn't. They were students from the high school she works at, the one her oldest graduated from last year, the one another of her children attends right now....they were students that she knew..everyone knew.

When you hear that they were leaving a party you instantly think..drinking and/or drugs..I mean kids do that...we don't want to think so..but they do..more than we think probably..more than they did when I was that age.

But that was not the case with this accident...it was a supervised party...cake, ice cream, soda and games. Innocent. The girl that was driving was ok...she did not get seriously injured..the back seat girl is serious and the passenger was killed.

And you know what the young lady with her life ahead of her, academic awards and athletics did...she did not put on her seat belt. She probably would have been ok if she had worn her seat belt. So sad..so tragic.

Years ago one of my other cousins was in an accident - he was just a bit older than these girls...he got into the car with the wrong driver....but he wore his seat belt and was pretty severely injured but he survived to tell his story. His injuries where a result of the seat belt...but his life is also the result of the seat belt..without it, he would have probably been killed much like this young lady.

It doesn't matter...I know there are plenty of things that increase the risk of an automobile accident...but it can happen to anyone anyplace no matter what you do....but what you can do...what you do to increase your odds of survival is wear your seat belt every time you get into the car even if it is just to go down the street. It does not matter how far..any distance and any speed.

My dad is mad because its a LAW to wear your seat belt...who are they to tell him what do do..well dad..I love you but..your wrong here..because if it wasn't a law more people would make an excuse not to put it on...not to do their part to save their own lives.

Buckle up..it could save your life.

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

The death of anyone so young is tragic—even more tragic than the death of an old codger like me. My heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends.

I don’t have a lot of family left here in the Louisville area, but I do have a lot of friends. These days it’s not just the news of traffic accidents that have me wondering if a friend is involved, but also the tornadoes and the murders. A few weeks ago a tornado struck less than a mile from where a friend lives; from the news report I was unsure of the specific location and became increasingly concerned because I could not reach her on the phone. As it turned out, she was OK but the power was knocked out of her house by the tornado.

Likewise, with murders: we seem to be having at least a couple a week. One of the most recent was a woman near where another friend works. Of course, I was concerned until the identity of the victim was released.

Strange, but as you indicate the increased traffic leads to increased accidents. Things seem to have changed around me, too—and not for the better.

12:16 PM  
Blogger Michelle said...

It's been the law here for many years to wear a seat belt, i think it's a $120 if you're caught not wearing one.
How tragic that accident was and such a waste :(

6:51 PM  

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