The slanderer and the assassin differ only in the weapon they use; with the one it is the dagger, with the other the tongue. The former is worse than the latter, for the last only kills the body, while the other murders the reputation.

–Tyron Edwards

I travel I-75 to and from Chattanooga every single day, yesterday this got in my way. If I had not slept in yesterday morning and had left the house 30 minutes earlier as I normally do, I would have been right in the middle of this tragic pileup. Amazingly, only 4 people were killed out of the at least 120 vehicles involved. That’s a blessing in itself.

Back on that same stretch of highway this morning, there were remnants of bandages and tarps and debris on the side of the road. There were also blood stains still on the road where emergency crews had setup triage areas in the middle of the highway. It was sobering for me, yet some motorists continued to greatly exceed the speed limit and swerve in and out of traffic.

I think this wreck has now been officially classified as the largest, in terms of vehicles involved, to ever occur in the US. About 10 years ago, there was a similar accident about 45 minutes north of where this one occurred. It, too, was attributed to fog. I think there were about 90 cars in that one, but there were more deaths because a huge fire broke out.

So, what do I do? Do I find a new way to get to work? Would that be any safer? Or, do I just continue to be as safe as I can and to try to be aware of what’s going on around me? Now’s the time for public transportation.