Some motorists and their passengers still haven't got over it.
Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson couldn't help but speculate on other 'past' important events that occurred on this one date, 30 March.
Some examples are:
The USSR attacked Poland on 30 March 1945 in their pursuit of the Nazis. (www.brainyhistory.com)
One of many famous people born on that day was Peter 1 (Peter the Great) of Russia. (www.brainyhistory.com)
With 'The King Speech' in vogue, a famous contemporary person who died on 30 March (in 2002) was the British Queen Mother. (en.wikipedia.org)
This year, while traffic chaos was happening in Brisbane, in NSW there was the swearing in of a new Government and the renewal of the Australian Cricket team.
The newly elected New South Wales premier Barry O'Farrell introduced the elected parliamentarians and warned them of scandals; and the same day, Michael Clarke, a New South Wales batsman was named the Australian cricket team captain replacing Ricky Ponting from Tasmania who had stood down two days previously.
At a Christian ministry level, the 22nd issue Retired Australian Cricketers Bi-Annual Newsletter annually published on 30 March (and 30 November) highlighted news of the three recent cricketer sculptures and the chaplain's chat on looking at the philosophical alternatives to the first four verses of the Bible: "In the beginning God..." .
But back to Brisbane. With these road accidents which created traffic chaos from the start of the day to the end of the day. (www.couriermail.com.au)
These ranged from a truck jack-knifing on a Motorway to a single-vehicle crash on a minor road. These combined with major roadworks and rain to produce chaos.
A police spokeswoman had said there were seven crashes between 6am and 9am, with some of those closing lanes and resulting in delays for peak hour motorists.
In addition there are subjective issues such as driver peak hour fatigue, being late for appointments, taking silly risks, not paying as much attention as a driver might. It puts me in mind of the severe warning from Galatians 6:7 "."Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap".
It made me wonder if all the drivers involved were alert, and following all the road rules and general levels of courtesy required when it is wet, and/or when there are roadworks.
When the Tronson family was living in Moruya for 14 years (1992-2006) at the Well-Being Australia "Basil Sellers Athlete Respite facility", there were at least two tricky intersections. One was notorious which saw several accidents a month. One of those involved Mark Tronson when an elderly driver came through a stop sign and collected his vehicle.
He wrote to the Eurobodalla Shire Council after that incident as he'd discovered from a retired Policeman that the intersection in question was officially known as a trouble spot. Within two days Council had established a temporary (and later a permanent) change of direction "road interface" at that intersection. Road interfaces (numerous bags of sand strategically placed – later concrete) are designed to alleviate such accidents happening.
Another intersection created a misleading perception as to how far a vehicle was away from the intersection. It too had many near misses and the occasional accident. The driver travelling east on Yarragee Road had to turn their head significantly to the right to ascertain whether Araluen Road was vehicle free. It took major concentration as that road at that intersection was at a close angle to Yarragee Road.
His wife, Delma, is a cautious and godly woman; and when she came to that intersection and there was a vehicle anywhere in the vicinity, she would stop and wait. Their children referred to this as, "Mum's waiting for the car from Araluen" (some 35ks up the road). In sowing the seeds of caution and obeying the road rules, Delma never had an accident there (or anywhere else for that matter).
