This morning, I was the person responsible for a minor vehicle collision and I felt like such a hypocrite. I am aware of the statistics and I am aware of the root causes that can lead to an injury - fatigue, frustration, rushing and complacency - but that didn't matter today.

Here's what happened. I drove my daughter to school and pulled into the school parking stalls. After a "have a good day" and an "I love you" to Naomi, I proceeded to put my vehicle in reverse. I looked both ways down the road and there was no traffic. I just started backing up when I came to an abrupt stop. It seems I failed to check my rear view mirror before rolling back and I backed into the side of a van of another Dad who had just dropped his son or daughter off at school.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
Fortunately, the damage to the van wasn't major.
Fortunately, the other Dad was very understanding and a nice guy.

Unfortunately, when I look back at my actions, I can clearly identify rushing and complacency as the root cause for my incident. This morning I was reminded how important it is to keep my injury prevention antenna sharp. What was a minor occurrence could well have been far more serious and could have resulted in an injury--- caused by me--- and adversely affecting a Regina family. Could I have forgiven myself if a serious injury had resulted? I think not!!