ON Sunday morning (March 13) at around 6am, Catholic nun Rev Sister Barbara Kiu drove straight into a stationary steamroller left on a lane at Datuk Teng Ching Hua Road in Sibu. She was probably heading to her Church for Sunday Mass.
She sustained chest and head injuries and died three hours later in Sibu Hospital. It was not only 80-year-old Sister Barbara who apparently failed to see the monstrosity on the road. An hour and half earlier, a motorcyclist also rammed into the steamroller and was taken to Sibu Hospital with a fractured leg.
These two accidents were reported to the police.
However, according to nearby residents, shortly after midnight that Sunday, two cars and a motorcycle rammed into the stationary steamroller as well but no police reports were lodged as the drivers and the biker were only slightly hurt – and apparently chose to let go of the incident.
If we are involved in a traffic accident, involving a stationary object, it is often assumed that we are automatically at fault because we are driving a moving vehicle while the object we hit is motionless. But should this always be the case?
There are many questions left unanswered. Was the object marked so that it was visible to an approaching driver?
Was it lit so that the approaching driver could see it clearly and had time to avoid it? Was there any warning sign placed at a reasonable distance for motorists to notice and slow down or change lane?
Accidents had previously been caused by such obstruction – a fact that should not be allowed to escape scrutiny.
The local council should have by-laws to prohibit parking a vehicle at an unusual or dangerous place or along an unlit road within its jurisdiction. If such regulations are, indeed, in place, surely the culprits should be liable to some extent.
In view of the unfortunate – albeit unnecessary – mishap that took Sister Barbara’s life, it is heartening to note the Sibu Municipal Council which owns the steamroller, has set up an internal inquiry board to carry out an investigation.
SMC deputy chairman Dato Andrew Wong was reported as saying the independent inquiry comprised board members from the Land Transport Department, the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board and the Public Works Department.
Unfortunately, Sister Barbara did not live to tell her side of the story.
As the SMC will be conducting the inquiry, will the drivers and the motorcyclist who did not lodge police reports come forward to clear up many of the unanswered questions? Hopefully, they will.
Sister Barbara may not be around to tell us how she hit the stationary steamroller but I am sure she had told numerous stories of love, faith, hope and truth to many who have passed through her life as her kind acts were told by her friends and relatives at her wake.
One story could be about Palm Sunday – our Lord’s final week on Earth during which he entered Jerusalem. They call it “the triumphant entry.”
In the eyes of the world, the way to bring a victorious king into a city should be ornately majestic. A convoy of luxury cars, led by a grand band, guarded by police cars, will probably be how the world visualizes a triumphant royal entry into a city. But for the King of Kings, He chooses to enter the city of Jerusalem in triumph on a donkey!
In the scheme of things, he probably would have referred to the day he went into the Temple of Jerusalem for the second time in his ministry to clean out the money-changers from His Father’s house as a Day Of Sorrow.
It was also on this day that he went up Mount of Olives and looked over the city. His heart broke in yearning over the wretched city. And he cried out these unforgettable words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not.” (Luke 13:34)
One week later, he was nailed to a cross outside that very city’s gates where the multitude had greeted him with “Hosanna in the Highest” when he entered the city just seven days prior.
With the advent of Easter, it is a very propitious time to ponder over the significant of the Cross to the Lord’s flock.
And for this, I have chosen the following psalm:
Near the Cross, O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me.
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me.
I feel sure the SMC will also come low and humble and get the legal advice of its counsels on the legal bound of “vicarious liability” even if it is the fault or negligence of its employees or contractors, as certain quarters have raised it and asking to bear full responsibility.
I am certain, too, that the council will tell the story of truth in order to restore public confidence. The public is expecting transparency and accountability.
The lesson is learned and all public authorities and private developers and contractors should place proper and required signages and warning lights to warn the public of stalled vehicles and work-in-progress along the roads.
A valuable life is lost, we must do all we can, including enforcement of the by-laws, to avoid any similar accident in the future.
Blessed Holy Week.