"Flatbed" ~ As written by a retired CHP

My husband's grandfather is a retired CHP.  He recently submitted this to a local newspaper and then forwarded it to my husband, who shared it with me. With Pa's permission I'm passing along his story as a reminder to always pay attention when you're driving, and be careful on the roads, no matter what the weather condition.

"EDITOR:

When I think about my career as a California Highway Patrol Officer I always focus on a traffic accident I investigated maybe 40 years ago. It was during one of those early rains. You know, the kind that brings the oil to the top and makes the road very slippery. Two sisters, maybe in their twenties, were driving southbound on US 101 through Santa Rosa in a Volkswagen bus. You remember them. They were shaped like a loaf of bread.

The sisters were talking, like sisters do, when traffic stopped in front of them. The sister driving applied the brakes but the bus slid into the rear of a flatbed truck. The impact was pretty hard. The front of the bus caved in, pinning both sisters quite firmly, chest high, to their seats backrests. Fortunately, they were not injured badly. However, the maybe 6 year old girl, who was sitting on her mother's lap on the passenger seat, died instantly of blunt force trauma from the unyielding hard metal truck bed. Those sisters, as have I, have been mourning that sweet little girl all this time.

I had a 6 year old daughter at home at the time. It was the worst day of my career.

So I say to anyone treading this, slow down and leave some space, as you don't want to create the worst day in a California Highway Patrol officer's career. 

 

--CHP Retired--"