He was one of the most experienced Captain's of his time. Titanic was to be his last voyage before he officially retired. Unfortunately he never made it to New York. Like an honorable Captain he went down with his ship. No one knows how or why a man of so much experience could hit an iceberg at full speed in the North Atlantic where he was quite familiar with the area after sailing it for 26 years. It was never proven that in his past or after the sinking that there was a "reckless" streak in him. We will never know what made him take these chances.