(Aired on June 8, 2010)
Sometimes things happen that make you wonder... why? The case of a 17-year old California teen who fell from the Capilano suspension bridge on the weekend, has everyone in shock. The sad part is that the tragedy seems totally unrelated to the safety of the structure. What went through the teen's mind, what kind of activity was happening when he fell 30 meters to his death, we will likely never know. His fellow students aren't saying much. Safety was not an issue. That bridge has strong, high fences. It would have taken something out of the ordinary to make that happen. Oftentimes when you have accidents of this nature, someone is claiming that safety is a factor. It doesn't appear that way here.
Teenagers often think they're invincible. That's one of the reasons they pay higher driving insurance premiums and get into more accidents. They take more chances. They do more goofy things. I remember doing a lot of that kind of thing. How I didn't do something more serious, I'll never know.
If nothing else, this tragedy goes to show us that the best-laid plans can go astray. We don't know what happened in Vancouver. We do know that something unexpected must have occurred. A young man's life was lost. An unnecessary risk? Perhaps. Accidents do happen. But if indeed this could have been prevented, we need to use this as an educational tool to show others the dangers that just a slight mistake can happen. If we saved just one other person from taking an unnecessary risk, it will have been worth the effort.
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Such a tragedy, and it's true, kids think they are invincible, which is unfortunate. A lesson learned too late. Perhaps Capillano should propose a new law where children under 5, are not allowed on the bridge at all, and over that age to 18 need to be accompanied by an parent/guardian. We went across when our daughter was 11 months old, I left her on the other side with a relative. It wasn't worth it to risk a life.
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