Be careful out on the roads!

As I sit here this evening watching the snow falling outside the window, I dread the thought of all the accidents that will happen out there. When it snows, there are wrecks. And this week has brought the tragedy of wrecks clear to the forefront of alot of people's minds in our county.

There was a terrible accident here this past week. I rarely know the occupants when there is a wreck - and I didn't know the occupants of these two vehicles. Not really. But, it happened within a few miles of our house. There are only a couple of roads off of Highway 89 between Kim's house and ours, so, chances are, the wreck has involved someone from our part of the county.

As we received phone calls making sure it wasn't one of us involved, news started to trickle in through Facebook. You can almost bet that if there is a wreck out here, it's around Young's Corner someplace. And this one was located there too. It's a horrible corner, and I'm sure we've seen 50 wrecks there since moving here.

Now, logically, what does that mean? Fix the danged road in that area! This wreck should be a reminder to everyone that Highway 89 is a dangerous stretch of road. The injuries to the passengers in these two vehicles are horrific. Three adults and three children were involved. I don't know specifics and don't want to speculate, but it seems to be just a horrible tragedy for all. The posts I have seen have included every broken bone imaginable.

In my humble opinion (and that doesn't account for much!), all the roads around here are dangerous stretches of road. The speed limit is much too fast in most areas, when you consider the fact that just the tiniest error leads to tragedy. There are no areas off the road to allow for error. It's not like that where we are from in Idaho. The run off lane is wide enough for a car to pull off on! Not here. You run off the road, you wreck. Plain as that.

My thoughts went to all the rescue workers too. You see, living in a small community, you can  bet rescue crews will know at least one of the victims. And the workers at the hospital will know more. And that was the case with this wreck too. The emergency personnel see the worst of it. And they work their butts off doing what they can to fix everyone back to new - or in this case, just to stabilize them for transport to a bigger facility.

The fact that my sister works at the hospital made me realize what an awful day for those there. Very, very hectic - all day long. It's those types of days that we can hope our medical workers don't have to see very often in their careers. I know there have been days in my newspaper career that I wish I could forget.

So, everyone, please be safe out there. We need to remember that thought - even on the sunniest of days, and really remember it on these snowy days. And everyone, please keep the accident victims from this past week in your prayers. They all have long roads ahead of them...........

Blessings, Pam