Barrier, huh?

More bitter irony, from the Georgia Times-Union:

(See "WJDLT" below) 

Alcohol, speeding factor in collision

The lead investigator says a Brunswick woman was at fault.

By Teresa Stepzinski, The Times-Union

BRUNSWICK - Police suspect alcohol and speeding contributed to a head-on collision that killed two people and injured three others, including a child, Monday night on the F.J. Torras Causeway.

WJDLT

It started out as a joke, a recognition of the subtle and not-so-subtle irony that surrounds us each day. Unfortunately, it's no longer funny and the irony has become bitter indeed.

WJDLT. The inspiration came to me one day as I drove the St. Simons Island Causeway. There were the usual drivers in a hurry to get from here to there, tailgating, weaving back and forth between lanes, cutting in and out and generally driving in an aggressive and not-especially-neighborly manner. The humor -- and irony -- came as I noticed some of those vehicles bearing fish (ichthus), rainbows and other symbols of the occupants' Christian faith.

Perhaps they were in a hurry to meet Jesus before everyone else.

This is not to suggest that Christians are the only people who drive badly on the causeway. Far from it. There's no shortage of speeding, tailgating, cutting back and forth between lanes, talking on cell phones, etc. by all sorts of people in all sorts of vehicles. Kind of reminds me of lining up in grade school, when many of the more outgoing students insisted on "me first."

This morning's paper brought news of yet another head-on crash on the causeway, resulting in two deaths and untold grief for the survivors. It was the third such crash in as many months, with a total body count of five.

There has been a lot of talk about the need to do something on the causeway to keep opposing lanes separate from each other. Some folks think a barrier is needed. Build a wall right down the middle of the causeway.

Other folks -- myself included -- disagree.

What is needed, not just on the causeway, but everywhere is a focus on driving and a sense of respect. Respect for the power contained within that several-thousand-pound vehicle that is, one hopes, under your control. Respect for the other drivers who are sharing ( and I emphasize SHARING) the road with you. Respect for yourself in the realization that you are no more important than anyone else, and that the extra 30 seconds or so you gain really aren't that important.

I know someone out there is going to say, "What the hell do you know, you've never lost a son or a daughter, wife or husband on the causeway." You're right. I haven't. And I never want to.

But...a barrier is no substitute for proper behavior behind the wheel.

Four years ago my family was involved in a five-car pileup on I-95, on the Savannah River bridge going into South Carolina. Traffic was stopped on the bridge. We stopped. The person behind me, driving the Yukon, didn't. I'll never know how he managed to squeeze that behemoth between me and the side of the bridge, but he did. Tore the hell out of the side of my vehicle along the way.

Then the fun began.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Three more cars plowed into the back of us and each other.

God was there that day. No one in our vehicle -- a large, heavy conversion van -- was seriously hurt. No one in the other cars was seriously hurt. There were several totaled vehicles and a lot of shook-up drivers, but we all walked away from it.

Besides opening my eyes to the grace of God, that experience kinda messed me up a bit. I get just a little antsy when I see other people doing really dumb things on the road. And I'm no longer in any hurry to get there before everyone else.

It comes down to this. WJDLT. It's a variation on WWJD, in case you haven't already figured it out. It may seem funny at first, but it really isn't.

Be careful out there.

-- JB