I just read this account of how President Obama reached out to bereaved families two days after the tragedy at Sandy Hook:

Person after person received an engulfing hug from our commander in chief. He’d say, “Tell me about your son. . . . Tell me about your daughter,” and then hold pictures of the lost beloved as their parents described favorite foods, television shows, and the sound of their laughter. For the younger siblings of those who had passed away—many of them two, three, or four years old, too young to understand it all—the president would grab them and toss them, laughing, up into the air, and then hand them a box of White House M&M’s, which were always kept close at hand. In each room, I saw his eyes water, but he did not break. . .

The staff did the preparation work, but the comfort and healing were all on President Obama. I remember worrying about the toll it was taking on him. And of course, even a president’s comfort was woefully inadequate for these families in the face of this particularly unspeakable loss. But it became some small measure of love, on a weekend when evil reigned. Joshua Dubois: What the President secretly did at Sandy Hook Elementary School

It is my hope that the leaders of our country will show similar compassion toward past, present and future vulnerable victims of vehicle violence and also take appropriate action.

• Last night, Pres. Obama referred in the past tense to crash fatalities as a public health problem.
• I got an email from President Obama this week.
• Do it, President Obama, for We the People of this United States of America! #VisionZero
• Barack Obama Op-Ed: “Self-driving, yes, but also safe” Would he be willing to discuss this with me?
• Tell Obama you are standing with us in this: “Family Continues Fight for Trucking Safety”
• “Powers of the Pen and Our Safety”; Presidential & Congressional Potential
• The Future of Trucking; Who pays for the costs of safer roads?