I spend a lot of time in schools teaching traffic safety. Every time I teach a class, I have students approach me and share their stories. Some are funny stories, some are tragic, and others are horrifying. It got me thinking of the ripple effect that a serious injury collision or fatality has on our entire society. The immediate victims of traffic crashes are obvious: The injured or killed and their immediate families. My family has suffered at the hands of a drunk driver that killed a young family member. I’m familiar with that pain and the ripple effect it has on immediate family.
I’m also a former first responder. I know firsthand how these crashes effect our 911 dispatchers, police, fire, doctors and nurses and ER staff, among others. These are people who deal with these horrifying events day in and day out, yet somehow are able to channel the grief and anger they feel into making a difference every day.
One of my task force officers often tells the story that led him to become one of the leading DUI arrest officers in the state. He was working and saw a car peeling out at a stop sign. He decided not to stop the vehicle, as the offense wasn’t so serious. Just some teenagers having fun. Not long after, he received a call to a severe crash. When he arrived he found that very same vehicle mangled beyond recognition. He wound up holding a dying teenage girl in his arms and comforting her as she passed away. If he had stopped that car back at that stop sign, he would’ve discovered a drunk driver. He went home that night with her blood on his uniform and a resolve to do what he can to stop it from happening again.
Over the years I’ve heard stories from first responders – especially paramedics and firefighters who see the aftermath of these crashes on a daily basis. They try to save the lives they encounter, then go home to their families and have a normal life. Some succeed, some don’t. Law enforcement, dispatch and Fire/EMS careers have some of the highest divorce, suicide and substance abuse rates in the nation. These calls day-in an day-out over a period of years take their mental toll.
What about the victims we don’t think about? I was at a local high school teaching a traffic safety class and a shy teenage girl approached me after class and asked a heartbreaking question. “Do you know if people ever get out of prison early?” I thought it was an odd questions. I responded “Sometimes they do, if they are eligible for parole, or sometimes they are released early for good behavior”. She then tells me “A few years ago my mom was high on meth and she hit and killed a pedestrian with her car. She called me from prison and told me she might be getting out early.” She looked so hopeful that her mom might be released – as she had been living in foster care, being bounced around. I was dumbstruck for a moment. This hopeful, shy, sweet girl was suffering because of her mother’s terrible decision. She is a victim too.
These are the human toll that these crashes have on our society. Compound it with the social, economic and cultural toll that car crashes have. Somehow, 40,000 people being killed in car crashes in a single year in the United States has become acceptable in our driving culture. We rely on our transportation, we even feel entitled to it. We forget that it is a privilege. As a society, we need to remember that every time you send that text, have a drink, don’t get enough sleep, or speed down that roadway, we are not just making decisions for ourselves – we are making decisions we have no right to make. We are making decisions for every single person we encounter on that roadway – and beyond.
I’m also a former first responder. I know firsthand how these crashes effect our 911 dispatchers, police, fire, doctors and nurses and ER staff, among others. These are people who deal with these horrifying events day in and day out, yet somehow are able to channel the grief and anger they feel into making a difference every day.
One of my task force officers often tells the story that led him to become one of the leading DUI arrest officers in the state. He was working and saw a car peeling out at a stop sign. He decided not to stop the vehicle, as the offense wasn’t so serious. Just some teenagers having fun. Not long after, he received a call to a severe crash. When he arrived he found that very same vehicle mangled beyond recognition. He wound up holding a dying teenage girl in his arms and comforting her as she passed away. If he had stopped that car back at that stop sign, he would’ve discovered a drunk driver. He went home that night with her blood on his uniform and a resolve to do what he can to stop it from happening again.
Over the years I’ve heard stories from first responders – especially paramedics and firefighters who see the aftermath of these crashes on a daily basis. They try to save the lives they encounter, then go home to their families and have a normal life. Some succeed, some don’t. Law enforcement, dispatch and Fire/EMS careers have some of the highest divorce, suicide and substance abuse rates in the nation. These calls day-in an day-out over a period of years take their mental toll.
What about the victims we don’t think about? I was at a local high school teaching a traffic safety class and a shy teenage girl approached me after class and asked a heartbreaking question. “Do you know if people ever get out of prison early?” I thought it was an odd questions. I responded “Sometimes they do, if they are eligible for parole, or sometimes they are released early for good behavior”. She then tells me “A few years ago my mom was high on meth and she hit and killed a pedestrian with her car. She called me from prison and told me she might be getting out early.” She looked so hopeful that her mom might be released – as she had been living in foster care, being bounced around. I was dumbstruck for a moment. This hopeful, shy, sweet girl was suffering because of her mother’s terrible decision. She is a victim too.
These are the human toll that these crashes have on our society. Compound it with the social, economic and cultural toll that car crashes have. Somehow, 40,000 people being killed in car crashes in a single year in the United States has become acceptable in our driving culture. We rely on our transportation, we even feel entitled to it. We forget that it is a privilege. As a society, we need to remember that every time you send that text, have a drink, don’t get enough sleep, or speed down that roadway, we are not just making decisions for ourselves – we are making decisions we have no right to make. We are making decisions for every single person we encounter on that roadway – and beyond.
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