Last Monday, Anthony Pughroberts, a truck driver, emailed us with a simple plea: "It is better to lose a minute in your life than your life in a minute."
While traveling along I-16 between Macon and Savannah, Anthony witnessed an accident. In the wake of that event, he shared these words with family and friends:
While traveling to and from school or work please consider this...
I've just seen two people that won't be going home ever again. The driver of the truck burned to death and the driver in the car didn't make it either. It's never a good sight to watch someone being pulled out of a car and placed in a body bag - unless you've ever witnessed it this message won't mean much to you.
We all think we are bulletproof (I felt like that) until I started running the road in a truck. I've seen the bodies and all anyone else sees is the number on the overhead sign showing fatalities for the year so far.
This is not a sympathy message, rather a plea to everyone to stay safe during your commute.
As of this writing, the number of Georgians killed on the road has reached 524 - about four people per day.
School is out and summer is coming, which means more people will be on the roads and highways. And in the sea of cars, it is easy to only look out for ourselves and where we're going.
Saving lives doesn't have to be hard though. We can help each other, protect ourselves and those around us in a hundred small ways.
Wearing seatbelts. Slowing down. Ignoring our phones. Focusing on the road. Driving sober and alert. Being courteous to others.
When you're tempted to speed through a yellow light or answer the chime of a text, keep Anthony's words in mind while driving:
It is better to lose a minute in your life than your life in a minute.
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