A sad accident

On Friday I was driving home from my studio and came across a car accident on the corner of Hancock and Uintah streets. Sometimes I try to take pictures of accident scenes for the blog, but I never get a good shot because my compact camera really isn't very good for such off-the-hip kind of photography. But true to form, I dutifully snapped a photo of the police officer taking pictures of the scene, and surprisingly I got a decent shot. The driver of the car had already been transported to the hospital, where I heard she later died. So sad. According to news reports, she had drifted across the line into the other lane, jumped the curb and hit a very large tree. I don't think this would have been fatal if she'd been wearing a seatbelt, but unfortunately she was not belted in.

I hate hearing stories like this. Fastening your seatbelt will save your life! In college I was in a horrible accident that I assure you would have killed or crippled me, but I walked away unscathed because of my seatbelt. Meanwhile one of my friends, aged 19, was in a rollover accident and was ejected from her car and pinned under it for hours. The accident permanently paralyzed her from the waist down. I wish she had worn her seatbelt. I wish the driver of the car in this picture had too. It's really sad to see an accident like this and know that such a simple act would have prevented a tragedy. I feel for her family.