When “Sorry” Just Doesn’t Cut It!!

“Sorry” – a word that is sometimes just SO hard to say, and sometimes just TOO easy!!

So, when is “Sorry” just not enough? I suggest that any attempt at saying “sorry” by the taxi driver, Mr Jacob Humphries, is just not enough. Mr Humphries was directly responsible for the death of 10 young school children outside Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday 25th August 2010.

He was the driver of a taxi taking them to school early in the morning. He had been doing this for years. On this morning, for some reason known only to him, he got impatient. There was a line of vehicles waiting at a railway crossing. The boom was down – meaning the arrival of the train was imminent.

Mr Humphries, however, could not wait patiently in the line of cars, like other responsible drivers. He had to drive past the waiting cars, on the wrong side of the road, and through the boom. Maybe he had done it before – I think one can assume that he had.

Photo: Henk Kruger, Cape Argus

This day, however, fate was not with him. A train crashed into his vehicle, throwing it into the air and against a nearby pylon. Nine children died at the scene and one died a few days later in hospital.

So – if he attempts to say “sorry”, what does it mean? Sorry for being impatient? Sorry for being irresponsible? Sorry for driving on the wrong side of the road? Sorry for driving through closed booms? Sorry that the train hit them? Sorry for killing ten children? Sorry for the sadness brought on ten families? Sorry for the trauma of the children that survived? Sorry for the trauma experienced by their classmates? Sorry for trauma to the train driver? Sorry for the horror of the other drivers that waited patiently and then had to witness such violence? All of the above? Well, I’m sorry, but this is just not enough.

He’s out of hospital now and in police custody charged with manslaughter. But a gaol term is also not enough – that’s also just too easy. What, then, would be enough?  I, for one, would like to know:

• What has he really LEARNED from this tragedy? Has he learned to be more patient? Has he learned to be more law-abiding? Has he learned to be more respectful of the passengers he transports? Has he learned to be more respectful of other drivers on the road? Has he learned to be more respectful of the laws of the road in this country? If he has not learned anything, then ten young lives were taken in vain!

• What will he DO to make recompense? Is he prepared to work in the Childrens’ Hospital trauma ward? Is he prepared to work in a trauma unit looking after victims of “accidents” such as this? Is he prepared to provide aftercare for victims who may take a long time to recover? If he is not prepared to take time to understand the aftermath of events such as the one that he caused, then ten young lives were taken in vain!

• What is he prepared to DO to make our country a better place? A week later, not much further away than the horror of the 25th August, a taxi transporting another group of school children overturned. Fortunately, no-one was killed. Is Mr Humphries prepared to give lectures to other taxi drivers on the need to be respectful of the laws of the road? Is he prepared to teach other taxi drivers what it means to respect their passengers? Is he prepared to teach other taxi drivers to be more patient in traffic? Is he prepared to be an example to other taxi drivers by driving with respect for people and laws? If he does not pass on the message of the horror of the result of negligent driving to other taxi drivers – then ten young lives were taken in vain!

Sorry, Mr Jacob Humphries, but “sorry” just doesn’t cut it!!! We want, and expect a whole lot more.