I believe I saw a fatal accident this evening

[jmowreader]

There's this little road I like to take sometimes because it's nice. It's got this real pretty railroad bridge on it. The first part of the road is this sweeping curve that goes over a little hill, and the bridge is at the bottom of the hill on the other side.

Tonight, I got close to the bridge and there were at least a dozen police cars, ambulances and fire trucks around it. Some moran in a Suburban hit the abutment so hard...well, you've seen a Suburban, right? Imagine running a vertical line from the front edge of the seat straight through the roof. Draw two diagonal lines on the car running from this vertical line through the front wheel hubs. That's how big the dent in this car was.

They had the guy on the ground, but they didn't look to be real hurried about resuscitating him.

[madaboutharry]

1. I saw a man lying dead on the freeway in Los Angeles next to his

motorcycle. It was over 20 years ago and I remember the scene like it was yesterday.

[Speck Tater]

2. Once in L.A, about 25 years ago,

a lady committed suicide by jumping off a freeway bridge right in front of me, but one lane to the right of me. That image will never go away.

[Truth4Justice]

13. Lots of "accidents" on the roads are suicides. Particularly the single vehicle types that hit a wall

or a tree.

Very sad.

[jmowreader]

15. I have a feeling that's what this was

I could see it being an accident if the road was real twisty, or it was wet, and the damage wasn't that severe. You know, lose control and whack the bridge. Things happen.

But the road is reasonably straight, it was dry and that car was trashed in a way they don't even show in the movies.

(Comment on the "reasonably straight"--imagine a curve with a radius of about half a mile. This is a REAL shallow curve.)

[Truth4Justice]

20. Sounds like a suicide, might had a medical issue too. At least no one else got hurt....

my EMT buddy has been at head-on collions between two vehicles where the police suspected that one driver was homicidal and decided to hit another vehicle as a way to die. That's jusy plain scary that someone would do something like that to innocent people.

[cobalt1999]

3. Those scenes stay with you.

I've seen a car hit and land on a pedestrian, and a woman commit suicide by jumping in front of an 18 wheeler (pieces went everywhere).

Never will forget either of those.

[AlCzervik]

4. about 4 or 5 years ago i saw a fatal accident happen, it was like watching something in slow motion

and it was awful. It happened around 7:30am and i was driving hom when i saw a white ford Taurus coming up behind me so changed lanes, the driver was going like a bat out of hell when her front drivers side tire hit the median and the car launched into the air and came down on it's nose. I saw the passenger when it came down and i knew instantly she was dead, i pulled over, called 911 and they asked me to wait, so i did, i went across the street where the car landed and stood next to the car and the police were there almost instantly. The driver was 17 and so was the girl that died, both were drunk and the victim was wearing a seat belt although i don't know how much a seat belt would have helped her.

To this day i will never forget that site and then the actual scene, just horrific.

[Iggo]

5. Been living in the L.A. area my whole life.

Not sure how many dead bodies I've seen laid out on the freeways, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was somewhere between 15 and 20, maybe more.

One might think I'd've gotten used to it. But actually the older I get, the more it bothers me.

EDIT: I've never actually seen a fatal accident happen. Just the aftermath. Sometimes the immediate aftermath, you know, before the authorities arrive. A couple times, before the traffic jam even started...those ones are dangerous.

[RamboLiberal]

6. Bless the EMTs, Firefighters, Police, Tow Drivers

who deal with this every day.

In passing by in my vehicle I've seen my share over the years of the aftermaths, and one just before it happened. Driving by the spots often brings back the memories.

One morning going in to a highway tunnel I saw a man on foot who looked like he was going to cross the road at the tunnel portal where traffic would be coming out of the portal. I thought that man could get killed. I read later that day he was. For some reason he had parked his car at an exit and walked back to get directions.

Another night I drove past a local restaurant past the emergency vehicles. A visiting dance teacher was crossing the highway with local teachers and students to get dinner. Struck and killed. Sad

Saw a rental car on a wet morning wrapped around a highway abutment. Didn't look too bad but the driver was dead.

And the one I thought for sure someone had died was a flat bed with a load of pipe had shifted on to the roof of a car crushing it down to the door line. Amazingly the woman inside had minor injuries.

[Truth4Justice]

12. Its hard for a non-professional drivers to see, but believe me, EMT's see all manner of carnage...

...I know, as my friend, an EMT, has seen suicides and homicides that would make most
people puke their guts out right on the spot.

I almost puked just hearing what he has told me about what he has seen. :-(

Hopefully they went quick and no alcohol or drugs were involved.

[renate]

7. several months ago we drove by the scene of an accident

A 13- or 14-year-old boy had been riding his bike on the right side of a bus when it pulled over to pick up passengers and hit him.

Afterwards, I read about him online--he sounded like a sweet, funny, creative kid. There's still a memorial for him at the site--a bike spraypainted white, and flowers all around. It's on private property, in front of a nursing home, and I think it's nice of them to leave the memorial up.

It was so sad. He was just coming home from school....

[SmileyRose]

8. It's not easy to murderize yourself in a Suburban

we had some 15 yr old kid swipe one from Lowes and drag the cops around Atlanta for 4 or 5 hours. My god, what that kid did to that thing. He even crashed it through a concrete barrier at 80 mph and I'm not even sure it dented the Suburban at all. It was stunning in an odd kind of way.

[Truth4Justice]

19. Lots of the newer SUV's are less strong then B4 due to wieght reduction to save gasoline. Large cars

are safer as they have crumple zones. Most pickups and large SUV's use a ladder frame much like those on big rigs.

[cherokeeprogressive]

9. "Some moran in a Suburban" huh...

Nice.

Was he a "moran" because he was driving a Suburban or because he hit the abutment? My guess about why they weren't in a real hurry to resuscitate him is because they also thought (at the moment he needed someone looking after his well-being the most) that he was simply a "moran", for whatever reason.

Compassionate and progressive thinking on your part jm.

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. Caught my eye, too

The subtext being that had the car only been a Prius, it would be a person of greater consequence.

[jmowreader]

17. Not quite...

If the guy would have been driving a Prius that fast, he still would have been a moran.

Actually, he would have been an even WORSE moran...an impact that severe would have fucked up the car to the point the fire department would have been endangered by all the hazmat he'd spilled in his crash.

Let's see...triple-digit speeds on a non-interstate road. Either (1) he was driving it like he stole it and lost control, which makes him a moran for being that reckless; (2) he was driving it because he HAD stolen it and lost control, which makes him a moran twice--we gotta give him brickbats for car thievery; or (3) he was attempting to kill himself. Many moranic acts here--vehicular suicide doesn't always work especially in newer cars which are made to keep you alive in crashes, impact on the innocent observers, impact on the emergency people, impact on his family...

[Edweird]

11. "We all hate SUVs. That's a given."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3644646&mesg_id=3644646

Clearly this poster speaks for DU in it's entirety (entirely in their own mind) when they "know" a person is a 'moran' because they drive a suburban.

[jmowreader]

16. He was a moran because of the speed he was driving

The speed limit on this road is 45mph. Hit a bridge abutment in a recent-vintage Suburban at 45mph and you'll probably push the radiator back to the wheels.

This dude managed to push the radiator back to his nose. I didn't know Suburbans would go that fast. He was probably dead at the moment of impact.

Driving Suburban fast enough to shorten it five feet when it hits: Moran.

[TrogL]

14. My first wife's car hit a bridge abuttment

She died an hour later in hospital.

Some idiot came upon the accident scene and removed her from the vehicle where she was partially impaled by the steering wheel - a job best left to paramedics. Then he prayed over her.

[jmowreader]

18. That must have been tough. Sorry.

[callous taoboy]

21. When my brother was in driver ed. my mom took us

one day right after school to the scene of a fatal accident near the junior high school. The car had been broadsided by a semi when the car had attempted to cross the interstate (before they had the overpass there).

When we drove up my brother said, "Oh no." He recognized the car as the one belonging to the grandfather of one of my brother's school mates, someone he was just becoming friends with. We went up to the car and in the back seat were his friend's school books and jacket. Everyone in the car had apparently died instantly. It was a huge drivers ed. lesson for both of us.