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| Written by PI Web | |
| Saturday, 19 July 2008 | |
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Honor crash victims by driving carefully It’s not often Westley makes national headlines, but a vehicle accident that caused seven people to drown in the Delta-Mendota Canal this week has stirred up a media firestorm. During the past several years, that canal has taken the lives of several people, most of them immigrants, without attracting the attention of the outside world. On Tuesday, it seems, the problem reached a tipping point — and, boy, did the world ever take notice. Newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle have sent reporters to the area, and the Associated Press version of the story, including a photo by the Irrigator’s Elias Funez, has appeared in the Washington Post. It’s interesting to ponder why there was so much attention this time. After all, four people died in a crash in the same vicinity in November 2005, and most people hardly batted an eye at first. Maybe it was the sheer number of people who died in this incident. Maybe it was that the media already had its eyes on this area, after a crop duster pilot crashed near Patterson and survived last week. Maybe it was that Tuesday’s victims had a huge, tight-knit group of friends and family members who showed up at the accident scene. Whatever the case, this group of Delta-Mendota victims finally got their due. They were treated as people — with real lives, hopes and dreams — not merely as immigrant outsiders who work in dangerous jobs and somehow should expect tragedy. You can learn about their lives in the San Joaquin News Service story on Page 4 of this edition. Take time to read their stories, for they have forever become entwined with the life and legacy of the West Side. Local community members who feel inclined could chip in and send money to the funds set up in their names. Meanwhile, we should all honor their legacy — as well as the lives of recent fatal-accident victims Helen Wright and Yesenia Zarate, both of Patterson — by remembering to drive defensively. Cars are convenient, but they can also be deadly when people are not careful. It’s important to stay alert and to obey all traffic laws, for the sake of our loved ones.
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