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Please take care — 13 Comments

  1. Excellent article Grandad and very timely with the long weekend coming. No doubt there are people enjoying themselves as I write this who will be unexpectedly in a grave this time next week. It’s sickening.

    I’m possibly on the planet for similar duration to yourself and over that time I’ve witnessed nasty accidents – but the one you describe must have been very traumatic for you.

    On a light hearted note – but related to our age group – you might have some input for my latest blog!

  2. Like yourself, I have witnessed quite a few and been involved in some. After 36 years driving, it’s inevitable.

    The one I wrote about was by far the worst. To see someone killed in front of your eyes is horrific. I was in shock for a long time after. Luckily I had a doctor at the time who was a bit of a therapist. I had nightmares for months after.

    It just made me realise that accidents happen completely out of the blue. There is usually no warning whatsoever. And we all feel ‘it will never happen to us’.

  3. Holy shit. That was rough. There are no words I can adequetely use to do justice to that article; all I saw was the aftermath and not the accident itself. It’s unfortunate you had to see someone killed before your eyes.

    But it just proves that these bastards never learn, and the Government has merely been abetting them for years. Like in 1979, when they gave out licences to people who couldn’t drive?! Pure insanity. And JoD is right, this is a long weekend, and it is with a weary sigh of inevitability that I know someone will be killed. That requires no foresight.

    One just has to bar the thought from one’s head …

  4. Yes. It is sad to think that there is at least one person who today is possibly planning a holiday, or a wedding or something else exciting, with the prospects of a happy future, who will be dead by Monday.

    As you say – best not to think about it. Just be careful.

  5. Grandad your post gives us plenty of food for thought.

    Alas, it brought back a nightmare time from the past.

    As a friend of mine used to say “None of us are promised tomorrow, or for that matter the remainder of this day.â€?

  6. Wow! You are one lucky b*st*rd. And your comment – “What The Fuck Just Happened?â€? was exactly how I felt, because what I was looking at couldn’t possibly be true. But it was.

    And between that, and a few other [much lesser] incidents, I am a lot more careful on the roads now.

  7. Grandad,
    I have been quite surprised by my long term reaction to that crash. I drive like an old man now and every once and awhile, as I am falling asleep, I see that telephone pole coming at me. I usually bolt awake and try to stop shakeing before going to sleep.

  8. I know it will be a weekend of bad news from the roads. As per my recent post from the “in the car” perspective, granted it was 20 years ago, but the reality is that no ever thinks it will be them. People seem to believe they are immortal until a crash proves them wrong.

    Hopefully recent media coverage will mean this weekend maybe slightly better than previous.

  9. All well and good and well said, but there really is no solution to ‘road carnage’ other than banning automobiles altogether. There will always be accidents. Ireland has some of the worst drivers in Europe. Perhaps Sharia law might help. The first ten drivers found at fault for causing an accident who then lose a hand as punishment might encourage the others.

  10. @Brianf – That incident happened 9 years ago. I still get flashbacks when I see groups of cyclists.

    @Flirty – I’m fairly sure I heard a report on the radio today saying that there was fog on the N7 and that drivers were speeding with no lights on. This is the same area as the carnage in the fog recently.

    People will NEVER learn from the mistakes of others, because they all think it will never happen to them.

    @Henry – I agree that we will never be carnage free. But all the time we are allowing people drive without adequate training there is going to be trouble. A high percentage are driving on provisional licences or no licence at all. And those who do pass the test have never been tested on motorways, ice, snow, fog etc etc. People think because they can do a flawless hill start or a three point turn that they are fully qualified drivers. Until we have a decent testing system and proper law enforcement, the carnage will continue.

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