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First to the scene of an accident this morning


JiFtheOracle

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I live at the beach. There are 3 major roads the beach people can take to reach the townies and where most people work. Based on my mornings, I take 1 of the 3. This morning, I didnt have any client meetings so it was straight to the office. When thats the case, I take A1A all the way down to a major Highway.

As I'm cruising listening to Johnny Cash, I'm approaching the exit ramp. I'm on the outside lane and need to merge 2 lanes of traffic to get to the exit. The girl in back of me has to do the same thing, her route was much riskier than mine. So as I'm checking in the rear view to see if she made it and isnt going to hit me as I approach a red light, I look up to see a collision.

This old salt, who I passed about a mile back had run a red light, not going very fast and nails a Suburban with his beat up S10. She was doing a U-turn and the angle in which he had hit her flipped the car. His air bag went off and there was a lot of damage to both vehicles.

Frantically, I'm trying to get out of the car and get to the flipped vehicle. I forget to unstrap my seatbelt, which hurt and then I forgot my phone to dial 911. So get the phone, get the seat belt off, dial 911 and immediately go to the flipped SUV's hatch back. As I open it, a stroller falls out. I dont have a strong stomach, so I'm freaked out there is a baby inside. Luckily, there wasnt. So I'm inside this car, walking on the windows trying to push out the sunroof to get this lady out of her car. Had to release her seatbelt, break the sunroof and then finagle her out of the vehicle.

Everyone was fine, but let me tell you. When that stroller dropped out the back...I've never started shaking that hard in my life. I was so scared there was going to be a mess, that I almost couldnt go through with entering the vehicle.

Crazy stuff and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

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I live at the beach. There are 3 major roads the beach people can take to reach the townies and where most people work. Based on my mornings, I take 1 of the 3. This morning, I didnt have any client meetings so it was straight to the office. When thats the case, I take A1A all the way down to a major Highway.

As I'm cruising listening to Johnny Cash, I'm approaching the exit ramp. I'm on the outside lane and need to merge 2 lanes of traffic to get to the exit. The girl in back of me has to do the same thing, her route was much riskier than mine. So as I'm checking in the rear view to see if she made it and isnt going to hit me as I approach a red light, I look up to see a collision.

This old salt, who I passed about a mile back had run a red light, not going very fast and nails a Suburban with his beat up S10. She was doing a U-turn and the angle in which he had hit her flipped the car. His air bag went off and there was a lot of damage to both vehicles.

Frantically, I'm trying to get out of the car and get to the flipped vehicle. I forget to unstrap my seatbelt, which hurt and then I forgot my phone to dial 911. So get the phone, get the seat belt off, dial 911 and immediately go to the flipped SUV's hatch back. As I open it, a stroller falls out. I dont have a strong stomach, so I'm freaked out there is a baby inside. Luckily, there wasnt. So I'm inside this car, walking on the windows trying to push out the sunroof to get this lady out of her car. Had to release her seatbelt, break the sunroof and then finagle her out of the vehicle.

Everyone was fine, but let me tell you. When that stroller dropped out the back...I've never started shaking that hard in my life. I was so scared there was going to be a mess, that I almost couldnt go through with entering the vehicle.

Crazy stuff and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

No homo...but, I love you man. Good job!

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Good Job.

Last year I saw a kid roll a Kia SUV onto it's roof in front of me. It was raining hard, and the thing just turned and rolled.

What's crazy was that all the doors were JAMMED SHUT because of the frame bending. He got lucky and kicked open a back door. If he's unconcious or broken leg and there's a fire, I'd have no option but to watch.

Word to the wise: Keep something in your glovebox to smash the windows. If you flip, I promise your doors won't open. (at least the doors you WANT to open)

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I live at the beach. There are 3 major roads the beach people can take to reach the townies and where most people work. Based on my mornings, I take 1 of the 3. This morning, I didnt have any client meetings so it was straight to the office. When thats the case, I take A1A all the way down to a major Highway.

As I'm cruising listening to Johnny Cash, I'm approaching the exit ramp. I'm on the outside lane and need to merge 2 lanes of traffic to get to the exit. The girl in back of me has to do the same thing, her route was much riskier than mine. So as I'm checking in the rear view to see if she made it and isnt going to hit me as I approach a red light, I look up to see a collision.

This old salt, who I passed about a mile back had run a red light, not going very fast and nails a Suburban with his beat up S10. She was doing a U-turn and the angle in which he had hit her flipped the car. His air bag went off and there was a lot of damage to both vehicles.

Frantically, I'm trying to get out of the car and get to the flipped vehicle. I forget to unstrap my seatbelt, which hurt and then I forgot my phone to dial 911. So get the phone, get the seat belt off, dial 911 and immediately go to the flipped SUV's hatch back. As I open it, a stroller falls out. I dont have a strong stomach, so I'm freaked out there is a baby inside. Luckily, there wasnt. So I'm inside this car, walking on the windows trying to push out the sunroof to get this lady out of her car. Had to release her seatbelt, break the sunroof and then finagle her out of the vehicle.

Everyone was fine, but let me tell you. When that stroller dropped out the back...I've never started shaking that hard in my life. I was so scared there was going to be a mess, that I almost couldnt go through with entering the vehicle.

Crazy stuff and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

Nice story.. well done keeping it together. It's not at all easy to do so.

glad everyones ok and you should feel good about doing the right thing

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Word to the wise: Keep something in your glovebox to smash the windows. If you flip, I promise your doors won't open. (at least the doors you WANT to open)

very true. experianced that myself when a girlfriend rolled the car me her and a friend we're in. Eventually got it open by using legs like you would on a leg press machine.. but had the car been on fire the three people in the car would've died..

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I live at the beach. There are 3 major roads the beach people can take to reach the townies and where most people work. Based on my mornings, I take 1 of the 3. This morning, I didnt have any client meetings so it was straight to the office. When thats the case, I take A1A all the way down to a major Highway.

As I'm cruising listening to Johnny Cash, I'm approaching the exit ramp. I'm on the outside lane and need to merge 2 lanes of traffic to get to the exit. The girl in back of me has to do the same thing, her route was much riskier than mine. So as I'm checking in the rear view to see if she made it and isnt going to hit me as I approach a red light, I look up to see a collision.

This old salt, who I passed about a mile back had run a red light, not going very fast and nails a Suburban with his beat up S10. She was doing a U-turn and the angle in which he had hit her flipped the car. His air bag went off and there was a lot of damage to both vehicles.

Frantically, I'm trying to get out of the car and get to the flipped vehicle. I forget to unstrap my seatbelt, which hurt and then I forgot my phone to dial 911. So get the phone, get the seat belt off, dial 911 and immediately go to the flipped SUV's hatch back. As I open it, a stroller falls out. I dont have a strong stomach, so I'm freaked out there is a baby inside. Luckily, there wasnt. So I'm inside this car, walking on the windows trying to push out the sunroof to get this lady out of her car. Had to release her seatbelt, break the sunroof and then finagle her out of the vehicle.

Everyone was fine, but let me tell you. When that stroller dropped out the back...I've never started shaking that hard in my life. I was so scared there was going to be a mess, that I almost couldnt go through with entering the vehicle.

Crazy stuff and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

Spicoli! You done good!

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Aren't those more popular in Europe than America?

I don't really know.

But the precedent you would set for the general public, if you did not protect samaritans would be a dangerous one. A few good lawsuits JiF and Crusher's nephew don't do anything.

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Thanks for the kind words everyone. It was really just natural instinct. I saw it happen, so did others. I was the first bold enough to try and help, but others definitely followed my lead and helped get her out. Everyone was very comforting to both parties.

What if she suffered a spinal injury and you moved her? You would be to blame for her being paralyzed. You would be sued and you would pay for it the rest of your life. Being a hero is nice but it also has its drawbacks.

I thought about this. Many people know that have been posting with me for a long time, that my niece was paralyzed in a car accident...so I immediately thought this could be an option and made sure that wasnt the case.

When I entered the car, obviously the first thing I was looking for was the baby. The lady was screaming and was in a panic (as you could imagine), I just kept yelling, "are your children in the car"..."Mrs. help is on the way, are your children in the car". After yelling that for what felt like forever (maybe 30 seconds) she yelled "I just dropped them off...wtf am I doing in a car accident".

Thats when I started to move toward her asking her if she was injured. She said, "no". I said can you move your legs..."yes"....how bout your arms "yes". Then she yelled, "I'm fine just get me the F out of here" and was really starting to panic. Thats when I figured we were good kicking out the sunroof and helping her out. My biggest fear was an explosion.

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Was the car on fire?

Crusher's nephew >>>>>>> JiF

Agreed.

My fear was the car setting of fire or some part of the car collapsing on her. I dont even know if I thought it out...just acted on instinct. The only thing I could think of was, is she paralyzed, is the car on fire or is something going to fall on the both of us (I have no clue in retrospect what could have fell on us, but that was my thought process...lol).

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Agreed.

My fear was the car setting of fire or some part of the car collapsing on her. I dont even know if I thought it out...just acted on instinct. The only thing I could think of was, is she paralyzed, is the car on fire or is something going to fall on the both of us (I have no clue in retrospect what could have fell on us, but that was my thought process...lol).

sitting in wheel chair>>>>>>>>>>>>>>being dead

well done BTW

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Hey don't sweat the "lawsuit" thing.

I tell my kids all the time that doing the right thing isn't always rewarded. Joseph refused to sleep with the King's wife out of respect, and his reward was her lying about him and his being thrown in prison.

You've got character, Jif. That's why choosy mothers choose you.

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Hey don't sweat the "lawsuit" thing.

I tell my kids all the time that doing the right thing isn't always rewarded. Joseph refused to sleep with the King's wife out of respect, and his reward was her lying about him and his being thrown in prison.

You've got character, Jif. That's why choosy mothers choose you.

Ahhh thanks. Its just because I come from a family of strong moral fiber.

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So this morning was pretty exciting as well. Got up, got ready for work, had a little time to spare on the drive...so I went to my favorite boutique coffee joint. Got a fresh roast of some Egyptian coffee....delicious. Get back into the car, put on some Social Distortion to get fired up for the ride to work. Go to take my first sip, and coffee falls all down my shirt and into my lap. The lid wasnt on tight enough.

And people say there's a god. :rolleyes:

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So this morning was pretty exciting as well. Got up, got ready for work, had a little time to spare on the drive...so I went to my favorite boutique coffee joint. Got a fresh roast of some Egyptian coffee....delicious. Get back into the car, put on some Social Distortion to get fired up for the ride to work. Go to take my first sip, and coffee falls all down my shirt and into my lap. The lid wasnt on tight enough.

And people say there's a god. :rolleyes:

haha

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So this morning was pretty exciting as well. Got up, got ready for work, had a little time to spare on the drive...so I went to my favorite boutique coffee joint. Got a fresh roast of some Egyptian coffee....delicious. Get back into the car, put on some Social Distortion to get fired up for the ride to work. Go to take my first sip, and coffee falls all down my shirt and into my lap. The lid wasnt on tight enough.

And people say there's a god. :rolleyes:

No one said life would be easy...

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So this morning was pretty exciting as well. Got up, got ready for work, had a little time to spare on the drive...so I went to my favorite boutique coffee joint. Got a fresh roast of some Egyptian coffee....delicious. Get back into the car, put on some Social Distortion to get fired up for the ride to work. Go to take my first sip, and coffee falls all down my shirt and into my lap. The lid wasnt on tight enough.

And people say there's a god. :rolleyes:

I smell lawsuit. McDonald's precendent.

Good job by the way!

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good job. this happened to me a couple of years ago. on the way to work near edison new jersey there was a tractor trailer flipped over and leakign all sorts of sh*t. me, this chinese dude and some other dude managed to get the driver out of the thing. whne we first got there dude was suspended by his seatbelt and knocked unconcious. we got him back to conciousness and asked him if he felt ok to be moved. he said yes....so we were able to ge him unlatched and lifted him up up out of the cab of that thing while it wa son it side. the chinese dude was a brave mutha too...he jumped his little a$$ into the cab and did the unlatching. pretty cool if you ask me. imo...you can't sit around worrying if the person is going to sue you for helping.....sometimes you just gotta help out another person who is in trouble.

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Excellent job, dude. I'm a cop and usually have to deal with some pretty hairy accidents on an almost-daily basis since the town I work in has three major highways and several smaller, but no less deadly roadways posted at 50 mph. Add alcohol, drugs, the very young or very old driver, TEXTING, cell use, construction work, bad weather, and any number of other factors including animals, pedestrians and bad weather and you can imagine how many people I've pulled from wreckage. Sometimes the carseats aren't empty. Sometimes the kids weren't even in carseats to begin with (kids turn into ping-pong balls, major pet peeve of mine). Occasionally a good samaritan will stop and assist, or remove injured occupants from a dangerous situation. These folks are often in harms way themselves. They are awesome. As for lawsuits--good samaritan law offers blanket protection for any untrained rescuer. (I, however can be sued into oblivion if I make a mis-step.) Anyway, good for you. And good that you didn't panic like most.

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great job jif, you showed a lot of character !!! :)

can I ask the first reponders out there about moving a body ? in the back of my fuzzy brain i remember in some class being taught not to move someone who may have a serious injury

what is a basic guideline for that ?

move them far enough away from a potential fire ?

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great job jif, you showed a lot of character !!! :)

can I ask the first reponders out there about moving a body ? in the back of my fuzzy brain i remember in some class being taught not to move someone who may have a serious injury

what is a basic guideline for that ?

move them far enough away from a potential fire ?

good question..

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