the avon mountain crash

i have posted on this before but i wanted to post on this subject again for a few reasons.

i used to drive over avon mountain to go to work daily for MANY years (our office moved into the main hartford office so i no longer drive over avon mountain daily. my doctor and some of my friends live in avon, so i still frequent the town).

my boss is the cousin of one of the people who perished in the horrible crash.

mark robinson is a friend of mine (he's writing a book on the subject)

EMERGENCY PERSONNEL gather at the accident scene on the morning of July 29, 2005. At the bottom right is Mike Cummings’ dark-colored minivan, crumpled and shoved against the side of a commuter bus, near the bus’s open front door. The runaway dump truck is on its side at the top of the photo. The vehicles hit by the truck and its load were waiting at a red light at the Route 44-Route 10 intersection, just beyond the lower right corner of the photo. (BOB CHILD)

A Horrific Crash That Changed Lives

A dump truck plows into commuters one Friday morning. The death toll is four. But the emotional toll is inestimable. Survivors wonder why they lived. Rescuers wish they could've done more.
BY DANIEL P. JONESJuly 23 2006Mike Cummings can't get the sickening sound of metal on pavement out of his head. If a truck pulls up alongside him in traffic, he quivers with fear.His broken ribs, punctured lung, broken collarbone, and torn knee and ankle have healed. But he still has 6-inch scars on both sides of his lower right arm from surgery to repair a compound fracture, and he still suffers stinging pain in the chest where his seat belt tore cartilage around his sternum. Just days ago, he had dental work done on several broken teeth.Despite all that, Cummings, 36, considers himself lucky to be alive.A year ago, he survived the catastrophic 20-vehicle crash at the foot of Avon Mountain, when an American Crushing & Recycling dump truck hurtled out of control down the hill and smashed into cars and a commuter bus waiting at a traffic light, killing four people and injuring 11.Other survivors also feel the same profound sense of gratitude. And, like Cummings, they don't want to dwell on their suffering."I should be dead," said Mark Robinson, who barely missed being crushed by slabs of concrete from the dump truck's load that crashed through the windshield and sunroof of his black 2001 Cougar.Those who survive catastrophes in which others die often deal with guilt, remorse and post-traumatic stress. The Avon Mountain crash last July 29 has caused its share of such anguish...........