OT: witnessed a fatal car crash

[LegendRider]

I met some cycling friends for pizza last night and on the way home I witnessed a fatal car crash. A car took a left at an intersection with a stoplight and was t-boned by an oncoming vehicle.

I saw it unfold and knew it was going to be bad but I cannot remember important details such as whether the light was green or the estimated speed of the oncoming car.

I stopped and immediately called 911 but there was no answer. I hung up, called again and it continued to ring when I got a call from a local number. It was the 911 service saying they got a "911 hang up" from my number. I told them about the accident and they said they were being flooded with calls about it.

I then went closer to the accident where a local resident pulled two guys from the the oncoming car before it was FULLY engulfed with flames. The driver of the t-boned car was ejected and was face down on the pavement in a pool of blood. He was dead. Probably the most awful thing I've ever seen.

There is a police and fire station nearby but it seemed to take forever for them to show up. It was probably a reasonable response time but it *seemed* like an eternity. The EMTs were the last to show up and I was surprised at their response. I expected them to scramble and attempt life-saving measures, but they must have realized he had passed. I don't know SOP but I wish they had covered his body out of respect.

Meanwhile I gave a statement to the police and was told a traffic investigator would likely call me.

I'm pretty shaken up. It was the first and only time I've witnessed a violent death. I think about a guy turning onto a residential road probably going home to his family and then 15 seconds later he's dead. I think about what it were me. I think about my high school kids driving and the dangers they face.

[8aaron8]

I'm sorry you had to witness such a terrible event. I hope you take comfort with loved ones and in time move past the imagery.

[robt57]

Shaken Up, I bet.

Unfortunately, I have been first on scene more times than I'd have preferred.

Once a car rolled and a fire took over somewhat quickly. The very excited driver that jumped out reverted to a language I do not have any comprehension of. In the 30 seconds I was trying to find out if anyone else was in the car, it became too late to do anything about it. Turns out there was not, huge relief at least at that.

Bad curve, and between that one and another with an ejection, same curve. I hated being around there...

Hope some time will calm the experience for you OP.

[Jcgill]

For the two fire/ems departments i work for it is SOP to cover a body to keep prying eyes from bystanders off.
It is also SOP most places that you do not attempt life saving measures if there are obvious signs of death present.
I have been in this field for 14 years and have seen a lot of unimaginable situations, and it is still numbing when it happens. However your training kicks in and you just go into autopilot to do as much as you can for any given situation.

[Matthew]

My wife and I witnessed one in So. Carolina on our honeymoon in 1993. We were on scene prior to the emergency crews. Very hard to witness. Another bystander literally passed out after seeing the deceased young lady still in her vehicle. I admit I got a bit queezy myself. Learned the next morning the victim was a young school teacher. Very, very sad. An image that has stayed with me over two decades now.

[Tickdoc]

That is terrible and sorry you had to witness that. Makes you want to hug the ones around you a little tighter and not take each day for granted.

[unterhausen]

I saw a t-bone accident, fortunately not fatal. Driver in front of us runs the light, realized her mistake, and stops in the middle of the road. The crossing car must have been going really fast, because the driver locked up the brakes a long time before we saw the car and it was still a pretty brutal collision.

I wish people would wear their seat belts. A majority of men and 40 percent of women don't. There was a fatal crash near here where two 20 y.o. died, not wearing seat belts. The car they were in was fairly new and relatively intact. Another driver involved was life-flighted from the scene, also not wearing seat belts.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

I wish people would wear their seat belts. A majority of men and 40 percent of women don't. There was a fatal crash near here where two 20 y.o. died, not wearing seat belts. The car they were in was fairly new and relatively intact. Another driver involved was life-flighted from the scene, also not wearing seat belts.

How is this even possible these days? Can you disable the warning sound/voice? Do they drive around with it going off all the time?
I rented a Fiat in Italy that had the most obnoxious fasten you seat belt alarm. You couldn't stand it more than a few seconds. Maybe all cars should have that. My new Honda is way too polite.

It was the third or fourth question a doctor I really liked asked me at checkups. Do you wear a seatbelt? Then she asked me if I wore a helmet biking. I liked that doctor, sad to lose her.

[quickfeet]

I know how you feel OP, I saw a guy jump off a bridge into highway traffic. If any of the couple of small annoyances I had that morning didn’t happen I could easily have been the car that actually hit and killed him. Horrible scene that I doubt I’ll ever forget it.

Mainly I think of the lives affected around it. There are too many to count in any fatal incident. The man killed, the driver that hit him, all of us that witnessed it, the emts, and the list goes on and on.

I spent a fair amount of time evaluating life the next couple days and think of it a lot when I am feeling like life is beating me up. Essentially, my take is that in reality none of the little things that we think are important in life actually are. We can literally change our lives tomorrow if we just decide to.

[shinomaster]

That’s horrible I’m so sorry you had to witness that.

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

How is this even possible these days? Can you disable the warning sound/voice? Do they drive around with it going off all the time?
I rented a Fiat in Italy that had the most obnoxious fasten you seat belt alarm. You couldn't stand it more than a few seconds. Maybe all cars should have that. My new Honda is way too polite.

For some vehicles disabling the seatbelt is as easy as slipping a piece of cardboard into the buckle, for others it would require removal and/or shorting of a fuse. But it's amazing what some do to get around an obvious life-saving measure. Thankfully that small percentage of drivers is getting smaller every day.

And safety systems are always tough to initially implement until they hit a critical mass. For more egregious examples look at goalie masks in hockey, or facemasks in football. More recently if anyone's been skiing for the first time in five years you'd notice that everyone wears a helmet.

But to the OP, so sorry you had to witness that awful crash, but if there's any solace to be gained it's that the other people on the scene were quick to try helping in any way they could. A couple years ago I witnessed the last moments of a fugitive's life, right before he got gunned down by the NYPD. I didn't see him shot but heard the gunfire. At one point I was about 20' away as he drove passed and looked him eye to eye. Still haunts.

[bigbill]

We came across one after descending near the Empire Grade close to Santa Cruz. A car had pulled out and a motorcycle had hit the car just forward of the driver's door. The motorcyclist was on the hood and his bike was in a berm about 50' away with motorcycle parts (plastic stuff) strewn down the road. EMS and police were there. We had to wait about 30 minutes before we were allowed to carry out bikes past the scene. No blood, just a motorcyclist on the hood with his head at an awkward angle. Later that evening we heard on the news that the motorcyclist was traveling approximately twice the speed limit around the blind corner. We all felt bad for the driver, the guy died on her hood.

[redir]

So far in my life I've seen 3 fatal car crashes as gruesome as the one you witnessed, a fatal helicopter crash and a fatal mountaineering accident on a glacier. about 6 months after the one on the glacier I started having panic attacks. I had no idea what was going on with me, felt like I was having a heart attack. I went to my doctor who sent me to a psychologist and I've been straight ever since. Moral of my story is sometimes it's hard to get that stuff out of your head and like in my case it just got buried and came out in secret. If you think you need help then get it.

[YesNdeed]

Yikes. That's a truly awful scene you have described.

Last night leaving work, I saw the result of a terrible crash that diverted my route home, and really got my attention. One vehicle was completely destroyed and overturned in the middle of the oncoming lanes, while the second vehicle was wrapped around a utility pole. I would be surprised if there weren't fatalities. A blown red light and high speeds were likely factors, but it's hard to know what actually happened.

Let's all take the best care, and drive and ride with a heightened sense of awareness. Not to point blame at any of the victims, but I rarely drive through an intersection without looking both ways. Never trust a green light. And I may damn well wear out my rearview mirrors from using them so much!

[buddybikes]

Haven't witnessed that bad of result but once I was driving under an overpass which was fairly new. A truck on the overpass took the turn too fast, and went off the guardrail. I witnessed the semi bounce off the pavement. If I was there 4 seconds earlier it would of bounced off my car. Another time riding on a twisty back road to my house, I hear a crash, a truck (I think due to overturning) t-boned a tree in back of me, he was ok however. Another, driving with my family, kayaks on roof for a day at the ocean, pickup in front of me was towing a small excavator, began fishtailing (no brakes on the trailer) then flipped. He survived too, just plain dumb!!