Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992 TAG: 9201090640
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CAR CRASH
BY ALL accounts, Roanoke lost a fine police officer when Fred Robinson was killed in a Williamson Road patrol-car crash early Sunday.Robinson's memory should be honored for his service to the city and the respect with which he was regarded by his colleagues. Of particular note is the evident respect he had earned from younger officers, whose entry into the profession had been made smoother by his caring tutelage.
It would be wrong, in other words, to remember him only for the fact that he was not wearing a seat belt while on his way to back up another officer responding to a burglar alarm at Valley View Mall.
But it would also be a mistake to forget it.
It is, for one thing, a tragic reminder that a uniform and a badge do not somehow make police officers more or less than human. They, too, are people; they, too, can err; they, too, are mortal.
That is worth remembering in an era when, for a complex of reasons, police officers often are viewed as apart from the communities they're sworn to serve. This is not so; the Police Department's loss is also Roanoke's loss.
Robinson's death is also a reminder that seat belts and shoulder harnesses are meant to be worn. It cannot be said with absolute certainty that his belt, if worn, would have saved his life. But it might have - and we know with dreadful certainty what happened instead.
There are state laws, city policies, all manner of statistical data, public-service ad campaigns. But the decision ultimately rests with each person each time he or she slips behind the wheel, and a sizable minority of motorists and passengers continue not to buckle up.
Perhaps Robinson's death will affect some people in a way that other reminders have not. A message that comes at a price so terribly steep should not go unheeded.
Keywords:
FATALITY