302: Concord traffic fatality, 2001

302.

Published news advisory by Lurene Helzer for Bay City News, July 5, 2001, "Lanes Reopened in Concord by CHP after Fatal Accident”. This advisory is about a freak accident in Concord on Highway 242 early that morning. The female victim could have been on her way to work. A garbage truck somewhere near her on the highway ramp overturned, trapping her amid spewed trash. She was pronounced dead by the Contra Costa County Coroner before 6:30 that morning, the state’s highway patrol said.

One is tempted to picture this as a normal traffic fatality, but it’s not. A mishap with an overturned garbage truck can pose any number of hazards for the hapless victim. Consider the likely ingredients inside a garbage truck at 4:30 in the morning.

Rotting foods, broken glass, dirty needles, dog poop, toxic household chemicals, used condoms, stinking washcloths, beat-up shoes and soiled dentures; imagine the condition of the dead body facing the poor coroner. In these times of economic difficulty in January of 2009, even the homeless can be happy they’re not called for such work. Of course, all these possibilities were not in the original story. It was just a routine traffic advisory for that 2001 morning.