Today I walked past the aftermath of a traffic accident. One car was still in the intersection, it's entire front bumper missing. A second car was perpendicular, on the sidewalk, with a snapped off traffic light pole lying on top of it. My guess is that someone tried to beat or ignored a red light. I overheard someone say there had been a pedestrian at that corner and that it didn't look good.
Condolences to friends and family of anyone involved.
I think driving is so common place that drivers often forget they're controlling 3-ton metal objects traveling at speed. As I continued my way past the accident it occurred to me that both drivers and pedestrians place a tremendous amount of trust in one another. Each driver is trusting that each of the hundreds of drivers (s)he himself meets is driving in a safe manner and not going to do anything dangerous. Each pedestrian is trusting that the multiple 3-ton moving objects zooming by mere meters away, any one of which could be fatal, won't lose control. We're essentially placing our lives in the hands of hundreds of complete strangers.
Of course, even if everyone is doing their best to act in a safe manner accidents happen. Sobering thought. I stand at that corner every day on the way to work.
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