This article tells the story of how a mother and her four year old child died while driving under poor conditions on a "dangerous road."
Quote:
A mother and her 4-year-old child likely struggled frantically for several minutes last night as they tried to free themselves from an SUV after it careened into the icy cold water of a canal, the local mayor says.
Firefighters waded into the Holland Marsh Canal at about 7:30 p.m. and pulled their lifeless bodies from the back seat of a Jeep Cherokee that landed in the water right side up.
"They were in the back trying to get out," said Bradford Mayor Frank Jonkman, who was at the scene and witnessed emergency workers drag the car from the water. "It wasn't pretty. It must have been 10 minutes before they ran out of air."
The victims had no vital signs when they were rushed to hospital. The gender of the child was unknown at press time.
Jonkman says the mother and child were likely trapped for quite some time.
"They didn't even know where it went in and by the time (firefighters) found the car, got it hooked up and got it to shore, it was a half hour," he said. "It's a treacherous road. They probably got caught in the slush and went in. It's unfortunate. It happens once in a while. They rushed them to hospital to see if they were still alive."
A dispatcher reported the vehicle lost control while driving on Canal Rd., a dark, winding country road that is unpaved in patches and has only some trees dividing the pavement from the water, which serves as a drainage canal surrounding the marsh.
Residents of the quiet area saw fire trucks, ambulances and South Simcoe police cruisers race past their homes en route to the scene.
Several complained the road was slushy and dangerous last night due to freezing rain and wet snow, which started falling in the late afternoon.
"When it's slippery like this, it's bad," said Paul Sopuch, who lives near the scene, about 1 km east of Hwy. 400.
"There's no lights on the road and when someone new drives on it, if they're not careful ... I hope they survive."
Jonkman says Bradford's been trying for years to get the province to relocate the canal to avoid such accidents.
"They're more concerned about frogs and toads that live in there than about people's lives," Jonkman said. "If it had been moved a couple years ago, this could have been prevented."
|
Now, it is of popular opinion that the road is dangerous and that the canal should be moved so that that road is less dangerous.
Now, I'm a brand new driver. I just recently got my G2 license (one step below getting a permanent driver's license) and rented a car just last weekend. It was my first time driving by myself, driving on the highway, and driving in the city (I took a road trip to Toronto). The weather that Saturday was horrible. It was raining slush (or snowing rain, take your pick), so while it continued to rain(snow), the slush was just piling up on the road instead of draining away like rain would have, making the road extremely dangerous. In my
Toyota Echo, I couldn't exceed 80 km/h without
hydroplaning , even while driving in the tracks of the car in front of me. Yet, I managed to drive 100 km, twice, without incident. How? Because I was careful and vigilant.
Now, I have all the sympathy in the world for the child of the idiot mother who drove along the Holland Marsh Canal without slowing down enough to see in front of her and to stop on time. It is the most basic safety precaution in driving. If the conditions are slippery,
slow down. If your visibility is limited,
slow down! This includes rain, snow, fog, the dark, and even corners!
So, I see this as another case of people killing themselves with their own idiocy, except that this one took her child with her. And, to top it all off, people are blaming
the road. It wasn't the road, it was the driver!
Am I being too critical? Does anyone have another point of view on this issue?