It’s been just over a year since I wrote about witnessing the drowning of an eight-year-old boy. And now, I found myself back at the same sleepy little southern Ontario town where the tragedy occurred.

This time, though, the community is reliving the sad event as they await the results of the coroner’s inquest. And once again, I’m starkly reminded of how much we all have to learn from such horror.

In case you’ve forgotten or missed the original story, I had taken my family to the beach and my 10-year-old son and I — along with several hundred people on the beach — were present when a boy disappeared beneath the waves. Even though the area was patrolled by several professional lifeguards.

The sudden disappearance and then discovery of the boy’s body were among the most disturbing events of my life.

And looking back, it was obvious a few key processes had broken down.

First, I noticed that the on-duty lifeguards had congregated at one of three lifeguard stations, leaving two stations unmanned. While there were no undertow conditions, wave and wind conditions were high, and high waves impede visibility.

Four young boys went into the water and — boys being boys — they began to horseplay without proper adult supervision.

When they noticed that one of them had gone missing, the three boys panicked and spent critical time looking for their friend, delaying the inevitable call for help.

Since the lifeguards had left the closest lifeguard station unmanned, it took several additional minutes to respond.

Many of the adults on the beach formed a human chain. It took us close to 40 minutes to sweep the beach hand-in-hand before we located the boy. Paramedics immediately attended to him, but the boy, Mitchell Temple-Medhurst, was pronounced dead at the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario.

As I write this, the local coroner’s office is beginning its inquest. The coroner will hear evidence about circumstances surrounding the death and will probably make recommendations aimed at preventing a similar tragedy.

Imagine if we in the trucking industry promoted the same type of inquests. If we looked into and analyzed every traffic accident involving tractor-trailers, what could we learn, and what would be some of the resulting recommendations?

I think we can all determine some of them quite easily. First, I think we would see regulations tightened regarding commercial trucks and fleet speed control (which is the number-one contributing factor in most vehicle collisions). This is especially timely given the current increases in diesel fuel.

Second, I’d bet that we would see a demand for higher minimum standards for driver screening and hiring. We’d also see mandatory training in defensive driving techniques with required-knowledge and minimum-pass levels, not to mention formal requirements for regular refresher training to ensure hazard awareness and preventive skills are part of a driver’s skill set.

Preparing drivers for real-world operating conditions will require training in specific topics, and in some cases, this training should be recurring to ensure that awareness becomes ingrained in your driver group. Training subjects should at least include defensive driving techniques, winter driving techniques, and speed and space management.

We can no longer tolerate complacency or the lowering of road safety standards. As good corporate fleets, we must ensure that we field nothing less than a group of professional drivers supported by operations that have a safety-first attitude.

Creating a safe environment can be as simple as promoting hazard awareness among those in that environment, while implementing a few key checks and balances. This involves training, education, and retraining to minimize risks.

It sounds simple, but if even one piece is missing, the door to disaster is flung wide open. This can happen in any situation, anywhere — during a pre-trip inspection, a blinding highway snowstorm — or even on a clear summer’s day by a lakeside.