Death in a blink

Because of a 4-week secondment, I now make a 70min journey towards Melbourne's western suburbs. On the way to work just last Friday (8th June), I witnessed the most tragic of accidents. This happened on Research-Warrandyte Road, similar to the road shown below.

At 7:05am, just before sunrise, I was travelling in a group of cars. The second vehicle in front of me was a white ute who for some reason drifted onto the opposite lane. Mind you, the road was windy and had single-lanes for each direction. When the ute drifted over, I noticed an object that flew around the bend on the opposite side. In that split-second moment, I knew a crash was imminent - that was how far the ute drifted across.

BANG!!

Plenty of smoke, and fragments flew everywhere. The ute hit its brakes but its momentum carried it over the edge of the road and disappeared down a short cliff-face. What I saw next shocked me the most.

I noticed the wreckage of half a motorbike on the side of the road.

That was what the object was. Fair enough if it was a car.... but to witness a head-on collision involving a motorbike ... Next I noticed a leather boot on the road-side, a glove on the other side of the road... and then the helmet-visor lying on the centre of the road. One motorist who also stopped to helped out yelled out:

"Where the h--l is the rider??"

It took us what seemed like 10 minutes to locate the body. It was some 8 metres from where the bike lay, below road-level and twisted amongst some shrubs. He didn't make it. His body was lying faced-down and legs were snapped into a contorted position.

The driver of the ute came from where his vehicle went over the edge, apparently unharmed. But his face said it all:

"Oh my goodness, what have I done??"

Emergency personnel shortly arrived and the police took my statement. The ambulance came and left just as quickly, discovering there was nothing they could do. A hearse appeared a few minutes later.

Death in a blink. We never know when it happens to us. But one thing is certain: each day is to be treasured. You only have one chance to live out each day.