For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
- Romans 5:17
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
- John 10:10
I was in Tennessee during the Thanksgiving Holiday week. In our travels around the county, the traffic death statistics were on all the amber alert signs in the area, since there was no active amber alert. In that one county alone, there had been 235 deaths to date in that county. There had been 216 deaths to that point a year ago. They had probably already had more deaths than all of 2022, but then again, sadly, December is not a good month to avoid traffic deaths, and since the sign had not changed, it was not including any deaths over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
I say this to compare to industry, and for truck drivers, the road is their industry.
I took a group of steel workers from India to an American steel mill in mid-America, the only mill that had equipment much like the new equipment in India (and were willing to host a group from India). We had to take a safety class before going into the mill. At the end of the class, usually a rubber stamp, one of the managers from my students from India, asked the safety manager, who taught the class, how many deaths they had the previous year. The safety manager was offended that the question had even come up. He had given the statistics that they had not had a medical treatment case in about two years. It was obvious there had been no deaths. He clearly stated that deaths at a steel mill in the USA were unthinkable. You follow the safety rules and the instructions of your guide and there would not be any problem with even a medical treatment case, not even a first aid case. The manager from India said their mill had several deaths, and he was convinced that the American safety manager was lying.
As the two started shouting and the mill’s safety manager was about to throw us off the site. I stepped between them to explain that in India life was not valued highly and their safety procedures were not up to par with the USA. This new evidence you have given them was hard to comprehend. Let us write it off as culture shock on both sides. After all, I was their guide and I was the Safety Director for a group of companies at the time. The safety manager reluctantly gave them a sticker for their hardhats to signify they passed the training.
I escorted them, but it was a nightmare. Once I had 3-4 of the eight in an area they were interested in, the rest would slip out and go to areas that they did not have authorization to go and had nothing to do with what I was trying to teach them. Four days later, I gladly escorted them to their airplane, a trip to Walt Disney World before returning to India. I did not go with them. They were nice people. I enjoyed being their teacher. They were eager to learn, but they had no respect for the safety rules in the USA.
But, with the statistics on the Amber Alert Sign, how can we say we value human life? 235 traffic deaths in one county in one state are 235 too many.
We follow the rules at work. We pride ourselves on our safety record. Signs are posted showing how many days since the last lost work time accident or medical treatment case or even first aid case, in really strict industrial or construction settings. On a construction site a few years later, a guy tripped over a welding cable, and I was mortified that we had a first aid case on my watch. But then we drive home and our chances of getting home alive are a coin flip?
When I worked for Dupont, every accident was considered avoidable. Do we have to simply avoid the highways? And yes, when a Duponter was injured off the job on the highways, there was an investigation by the plant personnel and a report sent to all employees explaining what the person could have done differently to avoid the accident. They take safety that seriously. But to a Duponter, safety was life. To most companies, it is a “core value.” Fancy words that are not taken seriously outside the plant boundaries.
What do people see when they read 235 deaths in one county in 10 and a half months? Do they think “Yeah! We beat last years total?” Are they that sick?! Or do they say a prayer for 235 families?
Did they know Jesus before they died? Was someone there to care for the family? Did someone show them love or their family love? The person that caused the accident did not much care, but were there others who did care?
Let us show love to our fellow man by driving safer, more defensively, and especially more kind.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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