Just saw a severe accident

could be any one of us. makes you think. hope she is ok.

 

Bad things can happen to anyone. But I'd think that most of the people on this forum have a better track record than the average driver for wearing seat belts, checking tire pressures, and replacing worn tires.

Around the DC part of 95, I'm appalled at what people are driving on the roads. It seems that unmaintained cars with under-inflated tires are on an increase. I saw an surprising number in recent years around Massachusetts, and I've seen an incredible number around DC metro since moving here.

A guy at work had a flat in the parking garage, and suddenly discovered that he had factory wheel locks on a car that he'd owned for five years. He'd never looked that close at the tires before.

On the other hand, I've had more road debris damage to my tires since moving to DC than I had in 12 years around the "big dig".

But heck, I'm pretty sure some lawyer will sue the tire manufacturer over the SUV accident.

 

I always have my seat belt on. Of course, that doesn't mean you're always safe, but it does prevent you from being thrown from the rear window of an SUV.

 

Nasty. Hopefully she will be ok. But a silly girl for not wearing her seatbelt.
Here in Australia,they are showing really graphic TV ads that shows the results of speeding,drink driving,no seat belts ect.... They are really trying to get the message through here. And they have upped the points loss and fine $$ if you get caught by the police not wearing a seat belt. Which is good.
Doesnt mean you are totally safe as Vang just said,but your chances improve by 100% wearing a seatbelt.

 

Thats horrible. I hope shes ok, and to be honest, if it wasnt for you and the off duty EMT she may not be alive right now!

 

J.P. - no matter what happens, you did your damnedest to help her. For that, you can rest easy at night.

 

hope she's ok


GUYS WHERE YOUR SEATBELTS IT MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE

 

Weird. I got caught in the worst traffic jam I'd ever seen yesterday. I was imagining some idiot on a cell phone who caused an accident and cursing them. I feel pretty bad about that now.

Anyway, sounds eerily close to what you saw. How weird is that?

One dead after tire blowout sends SUV into oncoming traffic

SNN REPORT

SARASOTA COUNTY – One person is dead after a tire blowout caused the driver of an SUV to lose control and launch into oncoming traffic on I-75 today.

The condition of another driver who was flown by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center is unknown.

Florida Highway Patrol said an SUV heading southbound had a tire blow out, which caused the driver to lose control. The SUV launched over the median and landed on its roof in the northbound lanes of traffic. A second SUV and a truck smashed into it.

Officers said the driver of the SUV that crossed the median died at the scene. Northbound lanes of the interstate near the Fruitville Road exit were shut down while the accident was cleared.

 

Wow. Very sad. And, I'm sure, very traumatic to have witnessed.

A few months ago, I watched a Harley rider get rear-ended by an SUV. I was coming to the end of a road that "T"ed with another. The biker was travelling from left to right in front of me. I watched him FLY through the air about 30 feet in front of my car. His wife was riding a "trike" in front of him. I got to him first as my wife dialed 911. He was face down on the pavement with blood running from his face. His "beanie" helmet was on the road several feet away. He was breathing and moaning, but not moving. Police arrived within 1 minute. EMTs were there within 3 minutes. I assume he was OK.

BTW... it was a hit and run. The SUV driver never even slowed down. Happened too fast to identify the SUV (at night, too) or get plates.

Seatbelts are SO important. If you get thrown from the car, the chances of survival are VERY small.

Mike

 

Hope she lives through it. Just saw a headline on MSN yesterday saying something like 48 million people don't wear their seat belts.

 

Last October my cousin and I came upon a poor fellow who had to ditch his Harley at 50mph and hit a concrete barrier on an offramp. Now, to add perspective to this poor guy's situation, this was in New Orleans only 6 weeks after Katrina(think no healthcare facilities, being taken to a MILITARY temp hospital). Waiting with him bleeding to death and shaking, uncontrollably, me calling his wife(his cellphone was 20 ft down the road), and finally having the ambulance show up 35 minutes later certainly reminded me and INGRAINED into my brain the dangers of motorcycles.

35 minutes!

Funny, because even 6 weeks after the storm, a vast portion of the downtown N.O. area looked fine. Business and restaurants were open, trash was being picked up, internet was available, etc...
We were very close to moving back that soon because it really was liveable. That is until we both waited 35 minutes for an ambulance to show up only blocks away from downtown when there was NO TRAFFIC. Ugh, I was very sick to my stomach.

I still have his wife's number in my phone and it reminds me. I think he ended up fine(relative term obviously), but I simply don't know.

 

I dunno, in my car last time I checked... where your seatbelts?

 

My best friend just was in a crash and wasn't wearing his seatbelt. He was one of those extremely lucky people who probably would have been worse off if he HAD been wearing it. He was leaving work at 1 am and was by himself. He was in his Corvette and wasn't fooling around, but was 'driving' the car when he lost it and slid into a pole, then a tree. When he hit the pole, he got tossed out the passenger side window (car stopped/changed directions, he kept going). The pole hit the car right at the front of the rear tire on the passenger side. Had the pole hit at the door, he would have flown right into it. Had the window been up, he probably would have sustained greater injuries. In those cases, the seatbelt would have saved him. As it turns out, his big 260 lb. ass somehow made a clean shot out that tiny Vette window and he didn't even break a bone. Skidded on his ass for about 130 ft before landing in some dirt/grass. He's still banged up, but more lucky than anything.

I've been thinking about this a LOT ever since it happened, and I talk about it with him, but don't tell him EVERYTHING I'm thinking. I didn't mention that the tree was probably a foot away from him when he was flying out. I didn't mention that if there was a curb seperating the road from the dirt he landed in, he would probably be dead.

I wear my seatbelt always, despite this. I don't feel right without it. Now, he does too, though swears that he didn't have it on that night because the thing jammed up (I don't buy that). He knows he's lucky, and he's definately changed his ways since then. He feels like he's gotten a second chance, and he's acting like it, too.

Sorry for the rant, that's been on my mind a lot.

REMIX, I too frequent 75 in the Ft. Myers/Naples area and for some reason, that flat, straight road has more accidents that any other stretch of road I know. I've seen fires, rollovers, people tossed out of cars, cars in the canals, you name it. It's a weird road!

 

Gosh im sorry.... But what is the big deal about not wearing a seat belt??? I have never felt uncomfortable wearing a seat belt. If anything i feel better wearing one...

 

Agreed. I can't get into a car without putting one on. It feels unnatural WITHOUT it!

In fact, the ONE time a sat in a car and didn't put one on I almost got killed. I was driving a friend's S2000 at a spirited pace. Then when it came time to switch back to passenger we switched seats. He is a novice driver and somehow got the idea it would be cool to 'one up' my driving(talk about a juvenile move). But as soon as I closed the door he took off, FAST. 5 seconds later, I was in the process of reaching for the belt when we came up on an S turn/extended chicane in a neighborhood. It had just started to drizzle and the car got sideways. Being a crap driver he completely overcorrected around the bend of the exit turn, sending us off of the road at 35 mph. Mind you that two 5ft deep ditches flank this road...

I have no time, so I drop the belt out of my hands(since I never had time to put the damn thing on), and grab onto the sidebar. Things slow down in my mind and I see the front end of the car dip as we lurch off of the road. Some how, some way, we were carrying enough speed to jump the expanse of 3ft. Land in some guy's yard, skid to a stop with the nose of the car resting against an Oak tree.

I just invisioned the nose of that car planting into the ditch and me going right through the windshield and splatting into the oak tree.

To say I was pissed is an understatement.

Crazy, the one moment in a car I didn't wear a belt(not for a lack of effort!) I almost die. Won't ever happen again.

As for the S2000? $13k worth of damage.
And the friend of mine who drives it? A year later he managed to crest a hump on the interstate too fast and had to miss some poor guy in a minivan. S2000 shoots across the median into oncoming interstate traffic facing sideways. 18-wheeler slams the crap out of it, splitting it in two. My friend is tossed into the weeds on the side of the road, gets up, no bruises, no scratches, NOTHING.

And I doubt he has learned his lesson.

 

Good on you for helping JP Sarti... You did all you could

I have some stupid friends (mostly women) who never want to wear a seatbelt when they sit in the rear. To them a seatbelt must be worn only if they sit in the front.

Secondly, even if they sit in the front in their cars, I have noticed they like to recline the seat a lot so basically the belt is hanging loose and there is a gap to their body.

I took a couple of them for rides in my car before but I felt really nervous with all these "potential projectiles" in my car. Now I insist on people wearing a belt or they need find their own transportation.

And what is with the fashion of people in the front passenger seat putting their feet up on the dash when the car is in motion. If the airbag deploys, a lot of bones are going to break and besides they might slide under the belt given the horizontal position.

Stupid people

 

wow thats a interesting story lol... But i think i might know why you didn't put your seat belt on. Thoughs S2000s are Smallll. Right when you sit it kind of takes your mind off of putting your belt on.. lol

Haha i was thinking the same thing.. but i guess some people never learn untill its to late.

 

Good for John and JP for helping those that needed it.

 

And I am almost 6'3" !!! Honestly though, I literally touched the seat and was still shutting the door as this clown decided mayhem was in order, lol

 

I only hope someone would do the same for me. I left out a couple parts that really got to me.

When my cousin(worked as an EMT, luckily) and I pulled up on the scene there were two cars stopped directly in front of us. We were behind them by no more than 10-15 seconds because they hadn't gotten out of their cars yet. We jumped out and the guy in the first car grabbed his cell phone and called the police. He then looks at us standing there on the raised offramp and goes, "well, looks like you guys got it..."

****** jumps back into his car and just drives away. The people behind him(they never got out of their vehicle) promptly ROLLED UP THEIR WINDOWS and left as well!!!!!

Needless to say I was REALLY miffed. Made me think less of humanity to be truthful.

15 minutes later(and 20 min before EMS arrives), a police officer rolls up. Walks up to us, asks us what happend(before checking on the victim), and we told him all we knew. He the proceeds to walk up to the victim and just goes, "Hey buddy, help is on the way."

I thought he would do more, but I was wrong. Police officer turns back towards us and walks our direction. As he strolled by he said, "alright guys, I'll be in the cruiser."

The man literally walked 30ft back to his cruiser and just started doing whatever the hell he was doing.

Now, EMS were great when they arrived. And thank GOD they arrived when they did because when I was on the phone with his wife she wanted to come to the scene. And she did. 5 seconds after EMS rolled up. My cousin and I didn't say anything to her because she was distraught. And I was pretty much at a loss for words.

We definitely left the situation with adjusted outlooks on things. I mean, this guy was just an average Joe going to work when things went wrong. His wife was as pleasant as can be. I had never seen anything like it, but the empathy was palpable. He is a human being for Christ's sake. I can't imagine how scared he was lying there with his back twisted(won't go into more detail) feeling all alone. To make the choice to leave someone in that situation alone to possibly die on the hard concrete is unfathomable to me.

 

The importance of wearing your seatbelt is widely documented and publicised.

Anyone who doesn't is an idiot, plain and simple.

Guess the girl thought driving a fat gas guzzler would protect her in an accident? I doubt she bought it for off-roading...

Seems it didn't help her much in this case; the size of the car can't make up for stupidity behind the wheel.

 

This may sound 'off the wall', but I think there is allot to be said about the closeness of rural, spread-out communities. The closer you cram people together in cities and in urban sprawl tract homes, the less they want to know the people around them, the less they care about people around them.

That scenerio you described, the people who took off valued that poor guy no differently than rodent kill along the side of the road. The cop... what ever happened to "protect and serve???" I guess the cop flushed his oath down the toilet long time ago.

 

Sadly saw a fatal accident a few hours ago on my way home from dinner. It was multi-car on the other side of the interstate, but our side was creeping because people were gawking. I looked over as we passed just in time to see two cops bringing out a white sheet to shield passing motorists from viewing the body of someone who had obviously been ejected from their car. So unnecessary and sad

 

You're quote I guess the cop flushed his oath down the toilet long time ago.


Why have you fallen for their propaganda? Look up the 1856 U.S. Supreme Court ruling South v. Maryland. They (police) have never had to serve and protect.