After the Crash
The police in a particular town received a call reporting a car being driven wildly through the streets. Within three minutes two policemen in a squad car received the alert and rushed to intercept the offending motorist.
The policemen stopped at an intersection and was shocked by what they saw. Just twenty seconds before their arrival, the speeding car had crossed that intersection and down the street the police saw the results: the wreckage of a driving school car nearly totally demolished from the head-on collision that had taken place.
The learner-driver and his driving instructor were dead inside. The guilty party and his friend had been drinking whilst driving.
Only three minutes elapsed between the time the call came into the police charge office and the squad car began looking for the offenders. By only twenty seconds the car beat the police to the intersection.
For the families of the deceased, that 20 seconds too late is similar to being years too late.
What can we do with help that comes too late?
Help coming too late is like a pardon after the execution. Or like someone being declared “not guilty” after being hanged.