It’s not comforting to know how much our lives are in the hands of those around us.The degree that we live at the mercy of others became painfully clear when Randy Scott was killed Aug. 16 by S.D. Rep. Bill Janklow.In the accident, Janklow ran a stop sign driving 71 miles per hour, killing Randy on his motorcycle. It’s an example of how we go through life trusting people to do their parts to keep our world turning smoothly. Then, we hit bumps that make it seem as if the world stopped turning altogether.What seems like missteps, or errors in judgment can have grave consequences. Restaurants accidentally serve bacteria-ridden food; people mishandle guns. … And drivers speed through stop signs.Shortly after the accident, people jumped to Janklow’s defense, saying, "Who hasn’t speeded?" or "Haven’t you ever missed a stop sign?" We should be careful with thoughts like those, because they almost make it sound like we aren’t really responsible for our actions.It’s true that accidents happen, but they usually can be prevented.Most of the time, we don’t think of the drivers who share our roads and their potential to influence our future.We trust that the person turning left will yield to us when we’re going straight. We assume the person swerving out of his lane is passing, even though he doesn’t use a turning signal. And we trust that when we don’t face a stop sign, we shouldn’t have to watch for others who do — because they might not stop.The accident has affected community members, who mourn their outgoing local mascot in Randy. His countless friends and friendly acquaintances would likely be going through the same thing, no matter how he died.Beyond the sadness, now would be an appropriate time for all of us to analyze our own behaviors. We should make sure we protect ourselves, but also that we don’t make the same mistakes that killed Randy.Even though general precautions might not have helped Randy, we should remember to wear our seatbelts, bike helmets and use defensive driving techniques — because there are other "Janklows" out there.And we should follow basic traffic laws and be aware of road conditions, knowing that our own careless actions could cause harm to another "Randy" out there, too.
