Chance

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I was cruisin' home from work with the plan for a pool session on wednesday night when the traffic, which is normally pretty good when I leave late, came to a pretty abrupt jam, it took a damn long time to get off the M5 tunnel and over to Wolli creek. It was only then that it was clear why traffic had come to a standstill, for a period of time both sides of the Princes Highway were shut and when I crawled through a contraflow on one side was in place. The reason for the delay became pretty evident with a Blue Commodore messed up on the side of the road past an intersection. I missed my session at the pool and it was not until the next day that I found out what happened. A female pedestrian had been hit by by the blue ute which had ran a red light, turns out the driver was pissed (4x the limit) as well.

Its hard to find compassion for people who make these kind of choices, which, thankfully only rarely end in tragedy, but I am sure this driver and his passenger never thought this would happen to them, but then again, the female who was killed did not even get a choice. Now sadly a family have lost their 22 yro daughter and two other lives are gonna be messed up resulting from what would appear to be two very poor choices, driving pissed and running a red light.

Choose wisely.

This image is for you Nicole – rest in peace.

Garden of Stone – Dry Canyon
10 frames, each frame bracketed
D750 with Samyang 14mm f2.8 @ 14mm
Shutter speed: 3s (normal exp) and 1/2.5s (under exposed)
Aperture: f/9
ISO 100

18 thoughts on “Chance”

  1. Such a beautiful capture for a tragic and depressing story dear +Gerard Blacklock !

    An event that you so coincidentally were linked to and affected by. On your way to enjoy nature, but missed due to this accident and the drunken dork! Most do not realise that in the blink of an eye your life can be over or changed dramatically for the rest of your life! Most importantly that your actions will affect others!

    There is a hairpin bend in the road to where I live, and I don't know how many times impatient drivers have overtaken cars here and ended out in the woods below the road. More and more trees are damaged as a result and testimony to the stupid (usually young) drivers. All severe accidents and some fatal. Some with alcohol, and others caused by pure stupidity. I fear that one day I will be the one having to try and avoid such a driver, and thus I always drive way out to the tiny shoulder when there is traffic.

    I love how you have posted about your experience and accompanied it with a beautiful capture of nature – we are all one – with roots to the same source!

  4. RIP Nichole. And may the reality of what the driver has done make him wake up and pull his head in and stop him from drinking and not cause any more heartache like this! Great post

  6. Thanks +Morten Ross , very correct that it can happen in the blink of a eye and most do not realise how close they are when driving. Sadly young people are over represented, in this case the guy was in his mid 30's so did not have that excuse. Fingers crossed for your hairpin turn and that it does not claim any more lives, particularly innocent ones. Have a great weekend mate and I hope its not too cold over your way.

  11. Losing a child is so wrong as I know personal experience. It is hard enough to lose your son or daughter to an unavoidable illness, but to lose a daughter with all her life ahead of her to something like this is a tragedy beyond tragedy. My heart goes out to the parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends of this young woman whose life was ended so needlessly. As an epileptic, I am completely teetotal and don't even like alcoholic drinks the few times I have had them. So I am lucky. But my cousin lost his life in a drowning when he had been drinking sangrias on the beach. For him, one taste of alcohol meant that the bottle would wind up empty. I really think that at this point in history, with so many technological developments, there should be a way for ignitions being blocked by a sort of built-in breathalyser. I am sure that few, if any, drink drivers are anything but devastated when they realise that they have caused an innocent death, and surely the innocent deserve better protection than relying on the good will of people who have consumed large quantities of drink. May this young girl rest in peace. It will be a long time, if ever, for her family to find any peace at all.

  15. Rest in peace Nicole……….To the Idiot who took your life, may they never forget what their choice in life has done, not only to Nicole, but to her parents as well.

  16. +Carolyn Fahm​ I can only imagine the pain and suffering you would have (and still do) experienced. You have written it very succiently with two points that can never be under estimated, first losing a loved one (for whatever reason) is something that you do not get over, its a something that lives with you forever, secondly, people do deserve more protection from idiots who cannot recognise the stupidity of their actions, particularly so with alcohol.
    I drive past the scene where Nicole was killed every day, each day the pile of flowers grows a bit more worn and faded, the debris has been swept away and only small pieces of plastic and glass remain, but the type marks, the oddly bent pedestrian rail and fresh traffic light pole give rise to the devastating actions of one person.
    +Carolyn Fahm​ I hope you have warm and joy filled christmas with your family.

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