Re: Responsibility

[philby@ix.netcom.com (Phil Coppin)]

Unka Bart,

God rest their souls and what a tragic, stupid waste of life.
I agree with your thoughts on this 100%. I almost died in a car crash 
some 23 years ago when, as a car salesman, I was demonstrating a 
Sunbeam Tiger to a prospective customer. He asked to see the mid-range 
acceleration and I obliged...long story short - brakes failed and I hit 
the arse end of a breakdown lorry (tow truck) at around 50mph, this 
after negotiating a serious 90 degree bend where I scrubbed off around 
50 mph of speed on an armco barrier and where my (unbelted) passenger 
was thrown out the car into roadside bushes (he only had scratches and 
shock). After cutting me out of the car (I wore my belt), I ended up in 
hospital for many weeks with various parts of my anatomy fractured 
(including my skull).

To any that believe my passenger, employer or vehicle was in any way at 
fault for my actions - think on! EVERYTHING associated with this 
incident was precipitated by my own actions. The passenger did not  
threaten my life to drive the car that fast nor did my employer 
threaten to kill me if I didn't sell it. In fact, it was I, as the 
driver, who made the only conscious decision to jeopardize everyone's 
life involved (or that could have been involved). So what does all this 
mean? It appears that we live in a world where everyone is a "victim" 
(except, of course, of their own circumstances)!
Whatver happened to the wonderful fatalistic streak that we once had. 
Everyone mouths that "s&^% happens" but when it does, they have to find 
out who the person was that threw the s&^% that hit them, rather than 
facing the fact that they sat in their own! 

Now? What would have happened if my passenger had been belted in and 
would not have been thrown out? If, if, if, if, if.....


Phil C.
96 A4q 2.8 slushbox (its the wifes and I love it)