Try to prevent worst from happening

"The freak accident" read the lee of the Jan. 8 front page story. "Freak accident" read the title of Jim Davis' editorial.

Maybe the revelation that multiple crashes have taken place at the same underpass should tell us that these occurrences were not "freak" at all. More than 40 years ago, public health researchers showed that all injuries and motor vehicle crashes could be broken down to individual, vehicle and environmental factors. Health and transportation policy would then have us ask why did these crashes happen here, at this underpass, on these days and why not a mile away or on a different day or due to a truck with no trailer?

Anyone driving in a Chicago winter knows that ice flying off trucks is a hazard. The IDOT spokeswoman in the article suggests one method that requires trucks to de-ice their roofs, which would have effects beyond just this underpass. Legislation requiring truck operators to be responsible for this indirect damage from their vehicles might be one approach.

Second, both the article and column note that the owners of the bridge followed the law, and therefore feels that they are not at fault. However, neglecting a pattern of motor vehicle injury on their property doesn't seem very faultless to me. But worst of all, after Mr. Davis puts all the pieces together, he concludes that "things you can't control conspire against you."

Motor vehicle injury and death rates have been decreasing over recent decades precisely because of government actions to reduce crashes. If nothing else, this publicity would be the time to seize the momentum to pressure the state to step in or the underpass owner to make changes; however, Mr. Davis expects no action until "extreme tragedy" happens. But why not prevent the worst from happening?

David Swedler

Naperville