The road was as busy as usual, just like any other morning of a working day. Traffic jam was heavy, and vehicles were pulled in together, as each driver was trying to prevent other cars from cutting in front of them. It became even worse when some drivers squeezed their vehicles into space that was not there. This was particularly risky and exceedingly annoying for the drivers that were patiently waiting for road to clear up.
Suddenly, there was this huge bang. A mini bus had rammed into a huge tanker, while trying to overtake other vehicles. The collision was so massive that the mini bus was flown a few meters from the actual area of collision. As the vehicle was flying over, a few other bodies had also been flown out of the windows, together with some items. The mini bus landed on some two vehicles, crashing them wholly from the top.
Everybody was in shock. A few screams were heard as those who had been hit in one way or another tried to shout for help. I felt a mixed range of emotions; shock, fear and anger. By this time, people had started streaming out of their cars and ran towards the scene of accident. There was a lot of confusion and the once exceptionally organized long queue of vehicles, was now chaotic and disorganized.
People were running in all directions. Some, especially the women were screaming out of fear and shock. Others did not know what to do and just sat where they were. They were too shocked to even comprehend what was happening.
In no time, sirens of ambulances and police cars were heard coming in a distance. This acted as a source of hope for many people as they now stared trying to help those who had been trapped in the wrecks.
A lot of blood was evident at the points of collision. Cries of agony and pain could be heard. Everybody was moving fast so as to save as many lives as possible.
The people who were in the two cars that the mini bus had landed on were all found dead, except a baby that was found unharmed in one of the cars. The child’s age, estimated to be at 10-12 months, was found well covered, on the vehicle’s floor. Both its mother and father died on the spot. It was so startling and mysterious how the little baby had escaped death, without a single scratch. The baby was also taken to one of the neighbouring hospitals in one of the ambulances, as efforts to look for possible relatives commenced immediately.
In a span of two hours, people who had been injured in the accident had all been taken to the hospital. At least four people had died on the spot and their bodies taken to a nearby morgue.
The police were now trying to gather as much information as they would, from whomever might have seen exactly what had happened, prior to the fatal accident. They also tried to contact relatives of the victims, using the addresses and contacts they had found on the victims.
I, being a bit composed by now, gave a version of what I had seen and felt had led to the accident. I told of how the vehicles were so squeezed together, and how they were even tailgating each other. I told how the mini bus had out of nowhere, tried to drive past the huge tanker at a merger, totally ignoring the traffic lights that signalled all vehicles on that lane to stop, hence the collision since it was too late for the driver of the tanker to stop his vehicle.
In a flash, the accident scene had been cleared, and the only evidence of the accident was pieces of broken glass and a few traces of blood here and there.
It had been fully established that the accident had occurred due to the carelessness and recklessness of the driver of the mini bus. Unfortunately, he was among the accident victims that died on the spot.
Reckless driving is one of the major causes of vehicle accidents. All drivers caught disobeying traffic rules should be arrested and penalised heavily, for risking other people’s lives. They should even be denied their driver’s licence.
Citations
Rick Foster, Greg Hicks. How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely Happy People--
Their Secrets, Their Stories. London: Penguin, 2004. Print.
