Speed Bumps with Proper Names

Exactly one week ago, a few meters from where this photo was taken, two young women were waiting for the bus when a speeding truck lost control and crashed into them, killing them instantly.

Their names were Aleyda (19) and Anita (20); both the most recent victims of negligence.

Friends who live in Santa Inés, the village just outside La Antigua Guatemala, on the road to Guatemala City, have been lobbying to get speed bumps on this stretch of road since there have been many accidents and over and over again they were told that it was not possible because COVIAL, the governmental agency in charge of the roads in Guatemala, would not allow it.

A week after the tragedy, the Municipalidad or COVIAL, who knows really, began installing a series of speed bumps to force drivers to slow down and prevent further accidents and deaths. Ironically, they first built two, not one or three, but two. That’s why I say these speed bumps have proper names: Aleyda and Anita. Another irony is that fact that in Guatemala we used the word túmulo for speed bump, which actually means tomb or burial mound.

Why is it human nature to wait for a tragedy before taking action to prevent accidents or catastrophes?

Guatemala in the news aside: Once again Guatemala became trending topic in the social media and news networks because of the killing of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral; one of Latin America’s most admired folk singers. You can read the rest of the story at The Washington Post for full details.

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