June 21, 2006

Driving safety

Driven to distraction

In a terribly short span of time, our area has been witness to two horrific head-on car crashes, both of which claimed the lives of drivers and shattered the lives of many people.

The first crash was June 9 near Michael in which Calhoun County Chief Deputy Sheriff Brian Gibbons was killed when his squad car collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by Tim Roth of Hardin. Roth was seriously injured.

The second fatal crash was Tuesday afternoon on Route 109 near Dow. An Alton woman driving an SUV crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a dump truck. The woman was killed and the driver of the truck was airlifted in serious condition to a St. Louis hospital.

Both crashes are still under investigation, though state police said that the truck driver saw the SUV cross the centerline and drove partway off the road to try to avoid the crash.

The circumstances of the accident that killed Gibbons are not yet clear; it is not known who crossed the centerline to cause the crash. Though Roth was charged at the scene with driving under the influence of alcohol and illegal transportation of alcohol, there is nothing yet to indicate if alcohol was a determining factor in the crash.

It is not our intent to pontificate on driving safety and we certainly do not want to add to the suffering and sadness surrounding these two devastating events. But there has to be a positive from the negative and, in this case, that positive has to be for everyone to take away from these terrible incidents the life-and-death importance of safe driving.

Without assigning blame, both crashes were caused when someone crossed the centerline. Without too much speculation, there can be little doubt that distraction was probably a contributing factor. These days, driving is seldom a solo pursuit. People talk on their cell phones (and worse – dial numbers), pop DVDs in for the kids to watch, try to read the tiny screens on the GPS system or the name of the band playing on XM Satellite.

When you think it about it, it is stunning and idiotic that we do all these things while piloting vehicles at high-rates of speed. And all it takes is one second of distraction to cause an accident.

So, are you drinking and driving? Putting in a DVD? Talking to your boss on the phone? How about we all stop the distracting behavior and pay undivided attention to the dangerous pursuit of driving. Being cautious and safe drivers should be our lasting tribute to Gibbons and to others who have been killed on our roads.