I want to send out a special thanks to each and every asshole that drove by me on Highway 101 on Monday morning after I hydroplaned in the torrential rain, smashed into a guardrail and wrecked my car.
As I regained my bearings after the impact—which was directly on the driver’s side of the vehicle—I watched numerous vehicles pass by me without even so much as slowing down.
After I located my phone (as it was launched from my pocket due to the impact), I had to dial 911. Myself. For my own accident. Seriously.
It’s bad enough that no one could even be bothered to call it in, but it’s worse to know that people just kept driving by without even checking to see if I was even alive. I guess your morning latte is far more important than your fellow man.
What a sad, sad world we are living in. —I Would Stop For You
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2012.
Yep, that’s infuriating. There could have been children in the car, for all they knew. Sadly, we live in a selfish world with lack of conscience. I definitely would have stopped
First off, I’m sorry for your accident and I’m glad you’re okay.
But (and there’s always a but, here at LTWWB) how do you know what was on the minds of the people who passed you? As you yourself can attest, driving conditions were pretty hairy. Are you totally sure that the people who passed you by were merely indifferent, or were they unwilling to make a bad situation worse by pulling over. Or simply focussed on getting to their destination alive. Phoning, or texting while hyrdoplaning in torrential rain is never a good idea, even if you’ve just witnessed an accident.
Once again, glad you’re okay.
Good point Ivan. Visibility was very poor. There is a good possibility that many people didn’t see the OB. I know I drove to work with white knuckles that morning myself.
People are afraid to help. There have been to many cases where you have an accident are in a burning vehicle a good samaritan pulls you out but you have a broken back and as a result your are paralyzed. The person that had the accident then sues the guy that pulled him out of the car saying that pulling him out aggravated his injury and caused him to become paralyzed and ruined his life. The defendant rarely wins that case and then has to pay out millions of dollars they don’t have for trying to help. People do not want to risk it.
I had the same thing happen to me. But I ALWAYS stop if I see an accident… I had an insurance claim go wrong because 2 men in one car lied about what happened. If a passer by had stopped, I might have been spared the drama and years of higher ins rates!
Most people probably drove by assuming it was being taken care of already. It’s human nature to not get involved with things that aren’t directly affecting you. I would have drove by unless I was there the exact moment it happened. If I witnessed it then I would have stopped.
We are a society of inaction and intentional ignorance to the situation/well being of others.
Or some shit…I dunno…I’m only 14 so I have no insight into the adult mind.
The “Good Samaritan Act” and Nova Scotia’s “Volunteer Services Act” protect a rescuer, who voluntarily helps a victim, from being sued. The only stipulation is that you must obtain the victims consent, if they are conscious. If the victim is unconscious, it is “implied consent”
did not know that we had a valid good samaritan act here in ns, good thing to know. But if i didn’t know it proboly the majority or people don’t either. You dont hear about protections on the news but you always hear when someone is getting sued because of it, so its still a valid reason why people would just keep on trucking by.
I guess it depends on how apparent the crash really was.
you hit driver’s side… was that in the left, passing lane? or did you 180 and slam?
If you were on the left side and off the road, people going by couldn’t see the damage and would think perhaps that you really needed to take a leak or something.
I dunno… I always find everyone slows by when they know there was an accident so I’m just presuming it was too difficult to see.
ps, costly lesson for learning to drive based on road conditions.
I drive on Highway 101 nearly every weekday morning and I didn’t see this accident. I do stop if there are no other cars stopped in the event of an accident. I didn’t know there was a Good Samaritan Act in Nova Scotia either.
The bitch after this one does cover the state of mind of a lot of people including those unhelpful drivers. We’re all doomed. That may have been a factor.
What if you lowered your speed, to say 70 if it was a hundred zone. If drivers went slower maybe the reaction time would be better and the chance of hydroplaning wouldn’t be an issue. Just a thought, thats all. Also, if there is an accident where someone is injured, theres a high chance that person is bleeding. And an even higher chance you don’t have proper protection (first aid kit) to handle the casualty. Then the good samaritan act would not apply if you did not want to come into contact with bodily fluids that could transfer many horrible things to you.
according to Canada’s Worst Driver you can’t hydroplane if driving under 70. Perhaps on heavy rain days like Monday you might want to consider SLOWING THE FUCK DOWN!!!!
oh, and I’m glad you’re okay
be glad you weren’t shot o.p., i saw in new york city that happen, and not a fucking soul stopped to see if person was alive or not.i checked, they were and called 911 for them. this was back in 1995, and what a shithole the place was/is. people think it’s bad here, you should try living in murder city for a few months. i was glad to get the fuck away when i did. halifax is nuts, but n.y. goes way beyond that, to the totally insane.
i know how you feel about the accident too, see a few myself and always tried to help. case in point, number of years ago, on dunbrack street, car was on fire, burning quite good, i saw a guy in it and tried like fuck to get him out, to no avail. he had doors locked and car was burning really bad and hot. i got out of there and car exploded in flames from gas tank. guy was dead of course, and probly was when i tried to get him out.
this has bothered me for a long time, wondering if quite possibly he was alive still when tank blew. i really will never know. i got burned hands and seared hair, and lots of smoke that day, but hey, i fucking stopped and tried to help. your plight pisses me off, and hope that those that passed your, suffer the same as you did that day. good luck o.p., make sure your phone is always charged.
The Good Samritan Act and the Volunteer Services Act DON’T protect you from being sued. You canb still be issued with a writ to appear in court to face a suit. You probably won’t be SUCCESSFULLY sued as a result of those acts yet you’d have to pay for all the pre-trial shit AND a lawyer to represent you in court…
sonic, if you were lying in the middle of a road bleeding to death, would that cross your mind, i think not. i have had the unfortunate displeasure of attending to a young guy and his girl a couple years back. he and she both got nailed by a car, while driver was on a cel phone asking about dinner arrangements, really. i was one of the first on the scene, as i had just left the bluenose mini mart. i actually saw the woman in car hit him, then her, and stop over 100 feet away. she was still on the fucking phone. it was just raining lightly and they had the cross light, still going when she hit them.
i ran over to guy, dropped the shit i had, and started talking to him, then saw the blood. i started screaming for someone to get me something to help stop it. i wound up using the light jacket i had on, after going thru the kleenex i had just bought for my cold and sneezing. anyway, i got the blood slowed and the guy asked how his girl is and where she was at. told him she was being looked after. we sat there, in the road for about 20 minutes before the e.r. guys got there, then cops and fire dept. in that order. the guys told me to keep pressure on cut til they checked the rest of him out, by asking name and date, etc. to see if there was any brain damage. then then took over the bleeding. his girl got off luckier than he did.she just had a fractured arm and cut knee i think it was. but fact is,i acted without a thought to me, and was glad i did. maybe, just maybe i could have got something from all the blood, but at that point in time, i thought about about trying to save the guy’s life. nothing else mattered.
just hope none of you wind up like this, and some douchebag doesn’t want to get a speck of your blood on them.if it is called being a good samaritan, then so be it. a second thinking could cost someone their life, maybe your’s someday. never worry about it, just do what you really know is best. the guy was okay after they got him closed and didn’t suffer any ill effects other than a super headache. i see him every so often and say hi to each other. i am glad that i was there at that time, and the broad who was driving, the cops got my statement. hope you all learn a lesson from this. don’t use phone while driving, slow the fuck down, and most important, pay fucking attention every second that you are behind the wheel. i, myself have almost been nailed quite a few times at this intersection at the crosswalk, and believe me, i am fucking careful.
And the whole, “I located my phone (as it was launched from my pocket due to the impact)..” sounds just a little too fishy to me.
I really hope I’m wrong, but the fact that you even felt it necessary to add the part in brackets seems a little suspect. I REALLY hope you weren’t yakking/texting while driving.
Regardless, glad you’re ok.
Oh, Blow me. Goddamn you have witnessed alot of horrible car accidents, I’m sensing some fiction in your tales. I did not at any point say I would not assist a person in distress. I stated if there was blood or bodily fluids present you would not have to assist the casualty. That is a law in this fine country, that was my point. I am a qualified first aider and have had to use my skills in numerous situations. I have a fully stocked up to date first aid kit in my trunk and a smaller portable one for cycling. In my experiences I have seen some less than desirable scenes and used my training very well to help those who needed it and gave me consent. At no point would I consider posting the gruesome scenes or descriptions of them online. People who do that in my opinion are fakes looking for some recognition they don’t deserve.
Gary, if people are too stupid to not realize by now how dangerous it is…
your idiotic rants aren’t going to be the thing to sway them.
Hopefully the 400+ dollar fine does.
—–
I’m sensing some fiction in your tales
—–
He’s a pathological liar.
Ask him about when he was at law school, a Toronto cop, serving in the armed forces in Argentina(Falkland Islands). Then ask him about all the women he bangs.
He’ll tell you.
Every time someone has a story or Bitch, ol Gary has a story from his storied life involving same subject. If I wrote a Botch about how the anal probe aliens use is too cold, Gary would have a story about that time he was on Moonbase Alpha(or was it MoonUnit Zappa?) and some thing happened, ending with him saving someone/fucking an alien.
Wp
OB if you’d slow the fuck down, you wouldn’t have hydroplaned.
As for hurrying to get my latte,
I perfer my coffee to be hot ,dark & by the sound of your bitch… bitter like you.
It’s the law that the 1st person to witness an accident to stop and provide assistance. Be fucked with what you have on your mind, do your fucking job as a citizen!!
If by moving an injured person you cause more harm they can sue you.
Nova Scotia Volunteer Services Act:
http://nslegislature.ca/legc/statutes/voln…
“Where, in respect of a person who is ill, injured or unconscious as a result of an accident or other emergency, a volunteer renders services or assistance at any place, the volunteer is not liable for damages for injuries to or the death of that person alleged to have been caused by an act or omission on the part of the volunteer while rendering services or assistance, unless it is established that the injuries or death were caused by gross negligence on the part of the volunteer, and no proceeding shall be commenced against a volunteer which is not based upon his alleged gross negligence.”
Hezz Thanks. I wasn’t totally wrong though.
Np Boru. It would be interesting to know what constitutes “gross negligence”. From what I could find, you would pretty much have to intentionally inflict more damage on the person; No clear cut definition, so there probably is some grey area. I guess one would have to just exercise judgement, do their best with what they know, and hope to hell that the person who’s ass they just saved isn’t a money-hungry douche bag.
sonic, yes i have witnessed many accidents, and even been in a few myself. i am a qualified first aid giver, have been for years, and take refresher courses when i can. yes wheelie, i have been a busy boy in my 62 years, not some lazy whining fuck, like a few here. but be that as it may be, i am proud of myself, and what i have accomplished in my life, thus far.
yes, i could write a book, people have said that, whether or not it was sarcasm or not, i don’t give a shit. let he who is without sin, cast the first stone dude. and to further state that yes, i have seen and done a lot, as i said, some people are just jealous. and try to put up a very stupid post about bullshit.
but again, there are those that do, and then there is the rest, lazy, whining self pitying assholes. and sonic, you should be glad, that there are people like myself, that doesn’t hesitate to help, regardless of personal safety. that the people i want around. not the self absorbed idiots that only think of what’s in it for them.
and no, i did not ask for or recieve any commendation or other shit from anyone, just a thank you from the young guy and girlfriend, weeks later. that was good enough for me. as to the rest of my past life, i was there, i left, and now i am here, that’s all there is.
oh yeah paul, forgot to mention dude, that i am gonna try to finished what i started back in the 80’s with a degree in law. i’m inquiring this week as to if i can get back into the game, but in meantime, taking a real estate course. how’s that for adding fuel to your silly little fire. i’m too old for some of the real stuff i would love to do. but hey, maybe politics might be next, petey against me, he don’t got a prayer. dexter and me,now there’s a winning team.
I think going back to school/changing careers at a later point in life is admirable.
Good luck.
Wp
” i am gonna try to finished what i started back in the 80’s with a degree in law.”
BAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Nope, not done yet…
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Gotta..
BAHAHAHAHA
Catch my breath…
BAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
WHEW!!! It’s hard to top a joke like that, you should audition at YUK YUKS on the way to apply for law school.
Better start practicing using the all elusive comma (as well as using the proper tenses of words like “finish”, not “finished”), it may come in handy when writing all that legaleze.
SH: Your comments make you sound like an asshole. What do you know about Blow’s life other than what he posts. You don’t know shit so stop throwing slurs.
I gotta point out, that you can’t take refershers for first aid when you can !
As someone who needs first aid for my job position. Every 2 years whether I got time or not…. I have to MAKE TIME & take the 2 day course.
The first time they came out with the DEFIB course everyone was instructed that the First Aid with Defib course was the only one recognised, & was the course you had to take when your present card expired.
IF you really are involved in working under the rules for safety in this Province …. you can’t just eventually “get around to it” anymore !
Sorry Blowme …. but that’s a fact now. (& has been for many years)
Wogdog, I don’t believe there was ever a woman more desperate for a big fat dick in the ass than you. You need to loosen that shit up a little.
OP , I did the same on the 103 on Monday. Luckily the 720 landed be in the median and no one was around me. I was going too fast for the conditions and need to replace 2 tires, lessone learned. A big thank you to the mid ninties civic with a painted black door that stopped in the other direction to see if I was ok. Between exit 4&5. I will be taping a pic of the kids to the dashboard to remind me to slow down…
sadly, I predict yet another influx of these bitches after the approaching shit-storm hits.
Get ready for a lot of copy/paste next week.
I’ll have to say, based on experience, and regardless of the weather, people don’t stop in general. I can only assume they’re thinking everyone has a cell phone and they must have called for help. But I noticed over the last couple of years people actually stopped caring and no longer stop to assist. An example?
Sure. On my way home from work, on a motorcycle, coming from the 102, I passed by a broken down car that was driven by a lady. I had steak with me and it was close to 25 degrees out mid july. I was only 5 minutes up the street. I went home, dropped off the steaks and went back to check on the lady. say 15 minutes or so passed between me seeing her the first time and coming back, and she was still there, no one stopped to see what going on, traffic was backing up and not a single MANLY MAN! attempted to push the car off the main road to clear the traffic. So I parked my bike in the neighbouring parking lot and attended to the lady. As I was attempting to push her car out of the way, several cars went around us honking at us giving several hang gestures including flipping us off. All that while I’m actually pushing her car up the street to clear the road and open it for traffic. NOT 1 SINGLE PERSON ASIDE FROM ME STOPPED AND HELPED! I was the only one trying to get the car off the road until her relative showed up.
So yes I agree with OP, people rarely stop. Even if it’s a bad accident.
I make sure I always stop and ask because I always ask myself, what if it was me?!