I hate going back to work after those long holiday weekends. It’s not so much that, all of the sudden, I’m forced to wake at 6 a.m. and spend hours on end editing, writing and the like. It’s the fax machine and e-mails — more specifically the tragedies they spew forth like a shopping list for the Grim Reaper.
Fortunately, not all the accidents sent to us by the Washington State Patrol occur in North Kitsap. They come from other areas in Kitsap and its neighboring counties, Clallam, Jefferson and Mason. Unfortunately, they do occur.
Some are routine fender benders. Others are worse.
Much worse. So bad that sometimes I wake up at night thinking about them, worrying about the safety of those I care about. Those I can’t imagine living without.
A July 3 accident in Clallam County did this and while alcohol was involved in a number of the other holiday “press memos†we received from WSP, it wasn’t an issue in this one.
Driver inattentiveness was.
The end result: three people, ages 43, 39 and 7 died. Several other adults and children — including a 9-month-old girl — were injured. Some severely.
North Kitsap residents should know all too well the pain such accidents can cause, not only to the surviving victims but those who must live with the countless questions that go unanswered in the wake of fatalities.
The message of driving safe, no matter how often seen or heard, all too often falls on blind eyes. Deaf ears.
The alarm is ringing, but so many drivers seem unwilling to wake up to the realization that their vehicles are much more than modes of transportation.
They’re also dangerous tools that can be just as deadly as a gun, often even deadlier because while pretty much everyone knows what the purpose of guns are and take them seriously, cars are often viewed simply as big, beautiful toys.
Many drivers seem to forget the drastic impacts they can have on people’s lives when misused.
The reality of the situation is as brutal as the image of a dead 7-year-old girl, whose body has been mangled by crushed steel, broken glass, twisted rubber and bent plastic. Her bright future extinguished in a few painful moments.
It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.
For the sake of all you hold dear, I urge our readers once again — and not for the last time — to drive safely.
JOE IRWIN
Editor
