As I drive to work each morning I pass a section of interstate that has the crossover barrier cables installed to prevent those horrible head-on collisions that make a splash on the news occasionally. The cables are stretched tautly between each post, alternately interwoven from pillar to pillar, adding strength and resilience to the steel.
A distant memory leaps into consciousness, a memory of a schoolyard game that I used to play with my classmates. A chant begins in my mind..."Red rover, red rover, we dare someone over". With our outstretched arms interlinked at the wrists we try to thwart the other team's effort to break through. If we stand strong we claim the challenger as our own, adding to our defenses. If our ranks are penetrated we must forfeit one of our own team members to the other side.
Like our red rover team, the barrier on the roadway stands guard, ready to catch an errant vehicle, preventing it from breaking through to the other side of the highway into oncoming traffic. As strategically as the human chain in the game, these cables are meant to give just slightly before catching, holding back the perpetrator and saving lives. If the cable fails the vehicle crosses and claims its unsuspecting victim.
As I drive along the random question in my mind is whether the designer of these barriers had ever played Red Rover as a child. Do you ever wonder how an idea is born, what sparks the imagination in the creative process? Could something as simple as a recess game be the springboard to a safer highway?
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