I swear I’m not making this up… Yesterday morning as I was driving north along I-79 in West Virginia, I looked over and noticed that my daughter was now awake, iPod out of her ears, and she was gazing out the window at the mountains. I decided it was a good time to put some finer points on the whole point of this trip.
The larger point of the trip was already well-known to her — traveling across country by car one last time in order to give the car away and become a 1-car, car-lite family. There are many finer points, so I began a conversation with her to explain further.
Among the finer points is an idea I’ve mentioned here before: If something bad happens as a predictable result of your bad behavior, then it isn’t an accident. Calling it an accident deflects blame from where blame properly belongs — with the person engaging in the bad behavior.
At the very moment that words to that effect are passing my lips, this occurred right in front of us: I was traveling 65 mph in the right lane (two lanes north bound, speed limit 70 mph). About 200 yards ahead, a faster tractor-trailer pulled into the left lane to pass a slower tractor-trailer. Both were traveling significantly under the speed limit due to the grade. I began to slow down.
In my rearview mirror I noticed a small silver sedan traveling easily above the speed limit in the left lane. The driver passed me and approached the two trucks, now neck-n-neck on a steep curve.
The sedan driver pulled onto the shoulder on the inside curve and proceeded to pass the two trucks — two wheels on the hard shoulder and two wheels in the gravel at the edge of the median.
“He’s going to kill someone,” I said. I let off the gas entirely to prepare for an evasive maneuver. Thankfully he made it and continued on in the left lane at a high rate of speed. The whole thing happened in front of us in the context of “no accident.”
“Had he just died, or killed somone,” I said to my daughter, “then that would not have been an accident.”
Point made (and, I hope, taken).
I’m happy to report we have arrived safely at our desination in Wilmington, Delaware.
Comments 3
wow! Great post.
Posted 23 May 2009 at 11:47 am ¶Excellent point and a great example.
Posted 23 May 2009 at 8:13 pm ¶This post made me laugh and nearly cry all at once. My 21 yr old son used to say “it was just an accident” or “I didn’t mean to” all the time. He never could grasp this concept, maybe I should forward it to him! Love the post.
Posted 27 May 2009 at 6:30 pm ¶