Twelve years ago, a driver drove nearly 1000 feet down a street in Santa Monica that was filled with pedestrians and shoppers and vendors at a Farmer's Market.  In ten seconds, he killed 10 people and sent something like 63 more to the hospital.  Twelve years ago.....

Two years ago another driver, alleged to have been driving under the influence of alcohol, drove passed a police checkpoint and into a large crowd at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin Texas, killing 4 and injuring dozens.  That criminal case is still pending in Texas -- the legal fight over responsibility and damages has yet to be fought.  Two years ago....

Today, a driver who is ALSO accused of driving under the influence of alcohol drove into the homecoming parade and festivities in Stillwater Oklahoma.  Four are dead, 44 are injured, some critically.  Twelve years after Santa Monica, two years after Austin.....

In the photo on the right above, we see the car that was involved in the Santa Monica crash.  All of the damage to the front of the car and the windshield are from bodies being struck by the car and thrown into the air and onto the hood and windshield.  In the photo on the left above, we have the car identified as the car involved in the Oklahoma State crash.  From the looks of the car, the same damage from the same cause -- damage caused by hitting the bodies of unsuspecting pedestrians who assumed that they were perfectly safe at an event where authorities had "closed" the street.

Why have officials learned so little?  Protecting the pubic at special events, PARTICULARLY special events that happen year after year, is not difficult and is not expensive.  The failure to take simple steps is usually a result of not seeing that the problem exists, or worse, assuming (as the police chief in Austin did in 2014) that because no one was injured at the event last year, no one would be hurt at the event this year.

Fast moving cars and people at a parade or a music festival or a farmer's market are a horrible combination.  The public presumes it is safe when they are at an official event where the streets are "closed."  Like Santa Monica.  Like Austin.  Like Stillwater.  Streets are NOT closed if cars passenger cars can so easily find there way in and when drivers can drive through at speeds great enough to kill.  Those streets are not REALLY closed;  they are just death traps and killing zones for innocent men, women and children who should be under the full protection of the city or the entity that is putting on the event.

After the Santa Monica crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (the NTSB) investigated the accident and had very simple and very clear guidelines on how to prevent future accidents where cars killed people at events with "closed" streets.  That was in 2003.  Have cities learned so little in twelve years?

It is really a simple fix.  Millions of people attend these kinds of events every year in the United States.  No one should be killed by a speeding car on a closed street. 

At least four people will never have a homecoming after the events in Stillwater Oklahoma today.  And it didn't have to be this way.

Two tragedies.  Two families hurt by death.  Two stores that failed employees and customers by not taking simple precautions to prevent these tragedies.

On the right, Costco in London Ontario.  A car accelerates backwards at high speed, passes between bollards and crashes directly into the entrance area.  Two young children killed, severe injuries to their mom.

On the left, HEB in Houston Texas.  A car accelerates backwards at high speed, passes between decorative fixtures and crashes through the glass doors and into the checkout area.  A young mother is killed, numerous customers and employees injured.

Do not think that just because these cars came crashing into these stores backwards that this was any kind of a fluke, or a case of lightning striking twice.  Such crashes are not uncommon.  More that sixty times a day, a vehicle crashes into a store or office or restaurant.  Costco has had numerous injury accidents where vehicles plowed into people at entrances and food courts;  HEB is a very large grocery chain in Texas and the grocery industry has been on notice for some time that these accidents are frequent and that they seem to be increasing.

Whether the cars come crashing in backwards or forwards, the injuries are just as severe and the deaths are just as final.  Both stores had installed decorative or functional devices in front to keep cars from pulling up parallel to the store to load and unload on the sidewalk -- in both accidents, the speeding vehicle simply passed between them because they were too far apart or too ineffective to act as a safety barrier.

Grocery store Trader Joe's has begun a program to protect ALL of their storefronts in the United States.  Chains like WAWA and others in the convenience industry also protect their customers and employees.  These companies have understood the problem in a way that Costco and HEB have not;  effective barriers, installed and spaced correctly, save lives of customers and employees.  They also save money -- if you don't believe me, ask any attorney.

Codes will change, design criteria will change, and the public and employees will be better protected.  Until that happens, cars will keep crashing into storefronts and people will be injured and killed -- and it doesn't have to be that way.