Hard to believe

Back at the beginning of December, there was a terrible accident in our neck of the woods. A woman was driving a car along the river road with three children as passengers when the car left the road and plunged into the river. Only the driver and one of the kids made it out alive.

Prior to that, I had never given the water a second thought. But I was shaken up after hearing about the accident. We cross the Thames river each day on our way to work and there is always at least one of the kids in the car with us. Due to the placement of the stoplights in front of our office, traffic is always backed up on the Parry Bridge, especially after work. And as for the bridge itself, well, it's getting old. I know bridges don't usually fail but... nobody expected wheels to fly off of transport trucks traveling on the highway, either. Nobody expected chunks of concrete to fall off of overpasses. Things can and do happen.

It worried me enough - and again, I hope this is needless worry, but better safe than sorry - that I decided to get one of those emergency windshield hammers to keep in the car. And it turned out that Chad had received one at some point along the way, so he dug it out and put it in the glove compartment. Then I took it out of the glove compartment and put it in the center console so that it's more immediately at hand. And every time we drive over that bridge, I find myself giving a cursory glance down to make sure I know where it is should I need it.

Not to even mention how much mental energy I have wasted trying to figure out, if worst comes to worst, which child to unbuckle first. My own little version of Sophie's Choice.

Anyway. This morning, the police announced charges in the case of the children that drowned in December. The driver of the car has been charged in an apparent murder-suidcide plot. And while I know this should make me feel better in knowing that the car was (presumably) intentionally driven into the river and that it was not just some tragic, random event -- I think I am even more shaken up than before. How could anyone ever do that to vulnerable little kids??

Full story here.