Thinking about the accident on Main street that claimed the life of a woman in a wheel chair. So many comments from so many different views, however the comments that stuck out the most to me, were those that judged the driver of concrete truck as being less than perfect. I for one do not believe that the driver of the vehicle was anything less. It was an accident, an accident that has become more common than people would like to admit.
It was a few years ago when another local man was crossing main to grab something to eat from a taco vendor and was hit and killed. I didn’t know the man but I helped his family pack up his things in his apartment. It was sad as all deaths are.
Accidents are not about assigning blame, they are accidents. I truly believe that the driver of the cement truck will be haunted by the tragic results of what occurred that day. Does he deserve those feelings of accidentally taking another’s life? I don’t believe so but that is part of the tragedy of accidents.
When people assign blame, they have a tendency to only see what the finality of the event, they care not to see anything of the time line leading up to the event. Things such as progress, construction, main street traffic and many other variables that everyone that lives in or just passes through the city contribute to. Its easy to judge and condemn the driver, however they don’t have the charge of driving a massive truck through a constantly congested Main Street while adhering to a strict time line just to keep progress flowing. This is the off set of earning. Whether to provide a roof and food to ones family or to increase a share holders vacation spending.
The progress that has taken place in C.V. has and will continue to take its toll. The building that continues to happen just to increase the tax base has become reckless and prone to accidents for some and carelessness for others. I don’t believe the driver of the truck was careless like so many judged, but rather he is remorseful for the accident that claimed another’s life. The construction boom is taking its toll on many construction workers and residents of this city. Construction workers are not machines and in every avenue of the hands on crafts and task require time and training to accomplish but to think that they are perfect is ignorant.
Those that create and supply with their hands are the reason people have structure required for survival just as the farmers supply sustenance to nourish your bodies, builders and transporters supply your bodies with safe lodgings. Oh, I believe that there has been acts of careless but not committed by the truck driver but rather by those in charge of substantial amounts of money that was intended on helping remedy the congestion on main street and spending it else where.
Are they directly responsible for what happened on main street? No. However, they should not be in charge of resources or positions intended on trying to prevent things like this accident from happening. Because they failed by matters of intention or lack there of.
Just as the driver will never drive in that profession, same should go for those in charge of the safety of this city’s residents.
To the driver of the truck; I hope you find peace. Responsibility is a hard lesson when unintended events are so tragic. To everybody else; responsibility is best learned when we all admit we have a hand in the events that shape ours and others’ lives.
To the loved ones of Tina Marie Jackman, I am deeply sorry for the loss you have suffered.
Joshua Molitor