Yesterday, it was announced that the RCMP were charging the truck driver from the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. He's facing 29 charges in relation to the crash, and is looking at some pretty serious jail time if convicted.
Reactions are all over social media. Twitter, Facebook, the internet is full of people and opinions. A majority of the comments I'm seeing are people expressing how happy they are that the driver is going to have to face the music for what happened. Some people are also sending him condolences, pointing out that while he's alive and physically unharmed, his life will never be the same again, either.
I fall in between the two viewpoints. No official details have been released (that I've seen), but if the driver is being charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle, the investigators obviously know that he screwed up somewhere. If that's the case, I'm happy he's being charged. I know it has flaws, but I'm a believer in our judicial system. If you do something wrong, you should be held accountable.
The common opinion right now is that people think he was on his phone. We've all seen people talk and text/drive (admittedly, I've done it myself), so I get why this is the assumption people are jumping to. However, until the facts are made public, it's just speculation. We know the man has been charged, and I think the best thing we can do now is step back, and let the legal process play out. If it can be proven that he was on his phone, or somehow negligent and at fault for what happened, he'll pay for it in the end.
On the other hand, I can understand where people that are sending him condolences are coming from as well. Regardless other whether he was on his phone, high, drunk, sleeping, whatever he allegedly did that caused this crash, I'd be willing to bet it wasn't his intention. We've all made mistakes. Fortunately, most of them don't result in a tragedy like this one has. I'm not saying he shouldn't be charged or held responsible, but I don't see how piling on is going to help the situation or the victim's families.
I saw someone that shares the same name as the driver post a plea for people to stop harassing him, as they have the wrong person. I can only imagine the vile, hate filled messages this innocent man is receiving. Even if you find the right person online, I fail to see what messaging him will accomplish. And people are making a lot of angry, racist comments, too. I don't care what happened, you'll never convince me that's the right approach. Let's be better. If you want to spend time online dealing with the people involved in this tragedy, spend it sending messages of support and love to the victims and their families.
All this said, I've never been through anything remotely close to what people involved with the Broncos are going through. I don't know how they feel, and I'm not going to sit here and promise that I wouldn't lash out like this if someone I loved was involved. I just think we are making a horrible situation worse by dragging racism and hate into it.
My thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy. And I hope those found responsible are held accountable for what happened.
Adam
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