The Day The World Came To An End

The afternoon of the day before yesterday, at about 3.30 in the afternoon, I heard the sound of a helicopter above my house. Then I heard another, and another, and another.....there were six in total flying around in big circles over a period of two hours on the East side of Tokyo. I was curious to say the least and could only presume that it was perhaps something to do with the Olympics. Oh that it was, oh that it was.

During the evening it came out that there had been a terrible accident about a ten minute drive from where we live. The time told it all really. At three thirty in the afternoon groups of elementary school children are making their way home down some of the backroads around here. The roads in question are actually quite dangerous due to the fact that there is virtually no sidewalk to speak of to walk on. For this reason the children walk in single file in their high visibility yellow hats. To make matters worse drivers pay far too little care and attention to other road users.

On this occasion it was a sixty year old ten ton truck driver making his way back to his depot. He had spent the day doing deliveries around various parts of the city and was but 100 yards from a left turn into his company's base. What happened next is unfathomable, and yet.......

For whatever reason the truck swerved to the left and hit an electricity pole. The truck then careered on another ten metres into a group of five young school children heading in the direction of on-coming traffic. They were walking in a straight line, one behind the other, directly into the path of the errant truck. They didn't stand a chance.Two boys, one aged eight and another six, died instantly. One more is in a critical condition and two more are seriously injured.

The truck driver later claimed that what made him swerve was something, he didn't specify what, that came at him from the right. Witnesses have said it's a lie, there was nothing anywhere near him. He also admitted that he had been drinking alcohol with his lunch on the way back to the works depot. The police tested him and found he was well over the legal limit.

Many years ago, during my Heavy Goods Vehicle Training, we had it drummed into us that the only acceptable limit of alcohol if you are driving is one big fat zero. I totally agree, period. Because this sixty year old idiot thought it was ok to ignore that golden rule two children are dead and three more are fighting for their lives.

Some people call this type of event a tragic accident. I personally call it an act of gross stupidity. There are surprisingly few real accidents that could not have been avoided. A bolt of lightning, a rockfall......as for anything else there is always a reason, a totally avoidable cause. I sincerely hope this old fool goes to jail for the rest of his miserable, selfish days. If I was one of the parents I would want to kill the bastard. Perhaps they will be more forgiving than I ever could be under the same circumstances.

For the deceased, the world really has come to an end. For their loved ones the world must feel like it has come to an end.How on earth anybody ever gets over something like that I do not know. Maybe they don't get over it, perhaps they just have to learn to live with it. It is every parents' nightmare and should never have happened.

I think there is a lot to learn from this. The school should run a school bus service for one. I also think it should be made incumbent upon transport companies to introduce random alcohol testing amongst its employees. Any sign of alcohol should result in instant dismissal. If we do nothing then that will mean that we have learned nothing from this tragic event and that it served no useful purpose at all. We owe it to the deceased and their families to implement changes to make going to and from school as safe as we possibly can.It's the least we can do in their memory.