We went to Austin on Saturday to visit my grandmother.
On the trip back, just east of Chappell Hill on 290, about 10 cars ahead of us, a SUV quartered a Silverado that u-turned in front of her.

Probably a dozen cars just moved into the shoulder & kept on their way.

The SUV was disabled about 90% in the right lane with just the passenger side wheels in the shoulder.

I had a car full of kids, put the hazards on & parked in the right lane. The driver of the SUV was out by the time I got stopped & out of the truck to call 911.
Amazingly, for flow of traffic being about 75mph, she was uninjured apart from a slightly swollen L wrist from the side airbag.

The truck she hit had a ton of 'stuff' in the bed & it was strewn all throughout both lanes. It was the debris settling that initially had me on the brakes.

Fortunately neither of them were injured, and the [assumed] angle of the collision kept it from being much worse.

Blows my mind [but not that much] that at least a dozen people just bypassed it without even slowing much to see if the people were ok.
Troopers got to the scene within about 5 minutes of my calling [and her GMC called via OnStar].

Luckily, for the GMC driver, another car stopped just ahead of us & had a dashcam recording. One of those guys happened to be in a neon orange shirt, and took traffic duty behind my truck [and he had cones in his car, too].

About 1/2 hour added to our trip.
The whole ordeal also made me realize I'm pretty poorly equipped for a situation that would've been any worse.
Makes me want to look into some first aid training & adding a small kit to the truck.

quote:

The whole ordeal also made me realize I'm pretty poorly equipped for a situation that would've been any worse.
Makes me want to look into some first aid training & adding a small kit to the truck.

Then the cost of the half hour to your trip is well spent.

You will learn in such preparations, that concerning yourself with "why do others drive on", is a futile and wasted use of your awareness.

Do all you can, and ignore those who won't.

I was first on scene [was right behind her] of a headlight-to-headlight, head-on, a few years ago.
Again, no major injuries there, but the driver of the Explorer I was behind had her door wedged shut by the fender being pushed back into it.

She was in a panic & I was able to pry the door open. No smoke/fire, and she wasn't visibly injured, & knew well enough to have her stay in the car [much harder hit than the one in the OP].
Kept her calm until EMT got there to check her over & had another that stopped check on the other guy.

If you are going to stop at a crash scene, always put your vehicle a good distance from the crash site and in a position where the wrecked vehicles serve as a barrier to protect you. Those folks you see speeding through the scene? They are distracted by the crash and will run over your ass in a second. Lots of well meaning folks are killed by secondary crashes.

All those people just kept driving because narcissism is massive today. It is almost unbelievable how widespread this problem is. Nobody gives a damn about anyone but themselves. Most people, their attitude is, fuck you deal with it. FUDWI is what I call it, my new acronym for the behavior. They have this attitude in the car, at the grocery store, at the gym, everywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Lots of well meaning folks are killed by secondary crashes.

And law enforcement officers as well.

I suspect another factor is fear of litigation. The "Good Samaritan" law is supposed to cover you but...

Situational awareness at all times. This incident happened on Christmas Eve in northern Oakland County:

PONTIAC, Mich. – A judge has ruled there is enough evidence for Malik Letroy Webb to stand trial for a triple shooting that occurred on Christmas Eve in Oxford.
Webb faces 22 charges, including open murder and attempted murder. His preliminary examination was Friday, March 28.

While Webb was on his way home to Flint from a Christmas party on Dec. 24, 2024, he got into a crash on Ray Road between Lapeer and N. Oxford roads. His car went into a ditch.
According to prosecutors, 71-year-old Dr. Barbara Wolf pulled over to try to help him. Instead, Wedd allegedly fired 30 rounds, killing Wolf. Her daughter and another man who stopped to help were also injured.
Webb also allegedly tried to carjack a 39-year-old woman while holding a gun to her head.

Some drive by because they do not have first aid skills. Many of these people do call in the accident on their cell phones.
Of course there are always the LOOKIE LOOES,who drive by at five miles per hour and gawk.

I have stopped at accidents and rescued people who were having heart attacks, etc. A couple of years ago I saw a box truck overturned in the road ahead of me. I realized that at my age and level of physical ability, I couldn't have even gotten into the cab, so I called 911. There are valid reasons why some people don't stop or, as in my case, no longer stop. Do your thing and let others do theirs.

Friend at work... First responder.. former Medic, Vietnam.

He stopped for a Simi vs Pedestrian on the Interstate one day.

The victim was a big ball of mush, not even recognizable as a human. Said he kind of wish he hadn't stopped and seen that... but said he couldn't NOT stop...

Lead, follow, or get out of the way. I see nothing wrong with these options and have done all three.

Exercising the third option is not nearly as bad a stopping and whipping a phone out to get good video there by clogging the road for those who have the ability to exercise the first option.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. I see nothing wrong with these options and have done all three.

Exactly.

If they don't have the mindset or the skills to help, I'd rather they just keep going and stay out of the way.

And nowadays, many folks don't have the mindset or skills to help.

For those that do, most of them can't NOT stop.

Fair points trapper & Rogue. Didn't really put it in that context at the time.
My first thought was that her car was disabled in a lane of travel, and she was already out of the car by the time I got stopped.

Couldn't not stop, at least to make sure both were ok & at least get 911 on the phone & on the way.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. I see nothing wrong with these options and have done all three.

Exercising the third option is not nearly as bad a stopping and whipping a phone out to get good video there by clogging the road for those who have the ability to exercise the first option.

I was thinking this. It's probably good that some drive on. They'd only get in thew way if they were there. Maybe it's good that they realize they have nothing of help to offer and just drive on.

And if you do stop, I encourage you to use the same approach taught even to lowly Boy Scout leaders back in the day. Give specific, direct instructions to others as needed.

Not: Someone call 911. Someone get me a towel.

Instead: YOU (pointing) in the blue shirt, call 911 right now.

Left to generalizations nobody will do anything. Given direct instructions almost everyone will do what they are told and without offense or objection.

Yeah, a few months ago I happened upon one of the neighbor's kids who had a rear tire go down and went in to a tree.

Stayed with and talked to him even though I knew he wouldn't make it. Called 911. Waited or about seven minutes. The next person to stop to help was the deputy responding to the call.

The most absolutely spotless 38 year old car smoldering in a ditch blatantly obvious from (but not in) the roadway and at least seventy motorists went right on by.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
And if you do stop, I encourage you to use the same approach taught even to lowly Boy Scout leaders back in the day. Give specific, direct instructions to others as needed.

Not: Someone call 911. Someone get me a towel.

Instead: YOU (pointing) in the blue shirt, call 911 right now.

Left to generalizations nobody will do anything. Given direct instructions almost everyone will do what they are told and without offense or objection.

This one 100%
I've been the one giving direction like that, again luckily there were no major injuries requiring aid prior to EMS arrival in the few I've stopped for.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
If you are going to stop at a crash scene, always put your vehicle a good distance from the crash site and in a position where the wrecked vehicles serve as a barrier to protect you. Those folks you see speeding through the scene? They are distracted by the crash and will run over your ass in a second. Lots of well meaning folks are killed by secondary crashes.

This. Cars offer a good deal of protection if you're still in it when you get hit. Out walking around in the roadway and get smoked by a rubbernecker? Probably DRT. My primary goal at a crash scene is to try and prevent a property-damage situation from turning into a personal injury or fatality one, which often results from emotional well-meaning people making bad decisions after the crash is already over. The more people there are out running around after a crash, the higher the chance of something bad happening.

If you didn't witness the crash or can't provide actual aid, it's probably better if you just keep going. I do REALLY appreciate it when uninvolved witnesses (people who actually saw the crash happen and/or the events leading up to it) stick around if they can safely do so. But if it's not safe to stop, call in and leave your info and we can follow up later. It's a lot easier to make a follow-up phone call than work a secondary crash.

The other exception would be if there are injuries and you can actually render aid. First one there and nobody else is helping? Absolutely do what you can. Have medical skills or a fire extinguisher? Join the party. But if you're just going to be the 10th or 15th body milling around waiting for fire and EMS to get there, it's probably best for everyone if you just keep driving.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 92fstech,

Like the man said , if you don't have something to contribute , just keep going . People milling around and getting in the way is a recipe for another accident .