By LIZ STRILLACCI

I can't say why I picked this book up again after all this time, but there it is.

This is the gripping, first-person account of one of the drivers hit by an out-of-control truck barreling down Avon Mountain on July 29, 2005. Mark Robinson's car was one of those in the front row, at the intersection of Routes 44 and 10 by Avon Old Farms Inn, facing a truck that was unable to stop, racing down the mountain during morning rush hour traffic at speeds estimated at well over 70 miles per hour.

Five people died as a result of that accident. It was one of the most horrific scenes a lot of people ever had or ever will see, including police and firefighters. The debris was strewn over a stretch of road as long as a football field.

I know a lot of people wonder why I'd read a book about such a terrible tragedy, so many years after it happened. Two reasons. One: Mark Robinson might not be a writer by profession, but he interviewed people, from survivors to emergency workers to insurance people, and he did a boatload of research, so the stories he tells about each and every person involved really come to life. Two: The proceeds from this book go to a fund to help those most seriously affected by the crash, which makes it more than just a book.

It's a frightening story, a sometimes heartbreakingly sad story, and certainly one that angers at times, given what the owner of the truck company did. But it's also an uplifting story, because of the way people came to help that day, and because of the people you get to know and care about, who were, through a quirk of fate and timing, caught in the line of fire of the truck that morning.

Maybe I also re-read it because each and every day now, my husband travels that same route to work.

This story isn't made up; it's not make believe. It's real, and it happened to people that were and are just like you and me, people that live just up the road or work in the next office. And I don't want to forget any of them. And the next time our legislature decides it would be a good idea to grant exceptions to safety requirements, whether it's for commercial or private interests, I'm going to be paying attention, and make sure my voice gets heard.