As I sat in one of the worst traffic disruptions in years I knew from the early accounts it was a horrific accident (West Seattle Bridge-Thursday morning, June 22).

Driving into work along with everybody else I was surrounded by cars with "United We Stand," "Support Our Troops," "Breast Cancer Awareness" bumper stickers and cars with flags flying from the antenna. We all made it to our jobs albeit a lot late. A short time later we we're all able to leave work and come home and have dinner with our families, all safe.

My oldest daughter has had her driver's license for a short time and and my youngest will earn hers on June 27. I'm terrified of late evening/early morning phones calls when the girls are out. Sadly three families received one of these calls Thursday morning. "Your lovely sixteen/seventeen year old child has been killed in a terrible accident. You need to come to Harborview right away."

The Seattle Police Department has a duty to investigate and provide as many answers as possible to the families. It can be of great help in trying to understand how your son, daughter, brother or sister has been killed in an accident. I know from personal experience. I think Seattle Police made the right decision to investigate as thoroughly as possible and I also think they did a good job.

I'm sick to read front page headlines and comments from commuters disparaging the Seattle Police Department for their delay in re-opening the West Seattle Bridge. That could easily have been one of our kids and we should take a moment and thank the God of our own understanding it wasn't. Hopefully the families will gain just an ounce of comfort from the Seattle Police efforts and their findings.

I'm heartbroken for these families. Many, many of us had no problem with the commute that morning. I hope the family and friends of these beautiful children know that. The two Seattle dailies were irresponsible for sending the message of detachment and callousness. It was a terrible spin regarding a tragic accident.

If you the reader knew any of these kids or their family, our thoughts are with all of you.

Joe, Adriana,

Alessandra and Olivia Quinn

Gatewood Hill