Re: Observations and Reflections
Pat:When I was growing up, my relatives ran the only one-hour photo shop in town. The local authorities used this shop to print their photographs of accidents, and one relative made sure I saw every one of those photos that came through the shop.The lesson wasn't lost on me . . . I am a very careful driver, and even as a teenager, I was pretty picky about the chances I would take.However, whether impaired by substances or not, teenagers in general are an extremely "at-risk" group for auto accidents, as insurance rates will attest.Recent tragedies move me to urge everyone here to talk to teenagers about driving, about inertia, about the dreaded contact of metal on skin and bone.To wit: just weeks ago, a young girl from my home town set out for a nearby city, with several of her buddies in the vehicle. The driver, two girls, and three boys (two of them twins). On the way home, the group stopped on an off ramp for a pee-break.As people re-entered the vehicle, one of the boys excitedly shouted "go! go! GO!" like they were all on a secret mission or something . . . . . . and one boy lost his life as the vehicle shot forward while he was trying to get in. The vehicle flipped him, and ran over his head.No one present, especially the boy's twin brother, is likely to forget that night. Frankly, I am glad my relatives no longer run that photo booth.Herring405
H
Herring405
(view)
Pat:When I was growing up, my relatives ran the only one-hour photo shop in town. The local authorities used this shop to print their photographs of accidents, and one relative made sure I saw every one of those photos that came through the shop.The lesson wasn't lost on me . . . I am a very careful driver, and even as a teenager, I was pretty picky about the chances I would take.However, whether impaired by substances or not, teenagers in general are an extremely "at-risk" group for auto accidents, as insurance rates will attest.Recent tragedies move me to urge everyone here to talk to teenagers about driving, about inertia, about the dreaded contact of metal on skin and bone.To wit: just weeks ago, a young girl from my home town set out for a nearby city, with several of her buddies in the vehicle. The driver, two girls, and three boys (two of them twins). On the way home, the group stopped on an off ramp for a pee-break.As people re-entered the vehicle, one of the boys excitedly shouted "go! go! GO!" like they were all on a secret mission or something . . . . . . and one boy lost his life as the vehicle shot forward while he was trying to get in. The vehicle flipped him, and ran over his head.No one present, especially the boy's twin brother, is likely to forget that night. Frankly, I am glad my relatives no longer run that photo booth.Herring405
