I assure you, there was a VERY good reason!

[Bella_Vixen]

I couldn't decide whether to put this here, or in Sightings, but since most of these asshats actually bought something, I'll put it here.


On to the story:


Yesterday, just before I got to work, there was a horrific accident about 3/4 of a mile up the freeway. Juuuuuuuuuuuuust after I got to work, we started to notice that customers were asking how to get to Madison without going on 94-W. O...K...

That's when we found about the accident. A dune buggy flipped over, and the initial reports were that someone died*. A rumor that was floating around was that some people got out of their vehicles, looked into the DB, and then ran away. I'm praying that that isn't true.

Anyway, on to the suck.

For the better part of 3 ½ hours, people would come storming into the store, grab their food and/ or sodas, and when they were paying would bitch: "Why is the freeway shut down?!?! They kicked us off for no reason!! ::bitch bitch bitch::" You get the idea.

Our response: "There was a BAD car accident just up the freeway. Someone DIED."

Most had the grace to look chagrined at that.

The moral of the story, boys and girls, is this: if they kick you off the freeway, not suggest that you MIGHT want to take an alternate route, but actually force you off of the freeway, especially if you've been stuck in a traffic jam for at least an hour, then you had better believe there was a damn good reason for it, OK?

*We found out later that the person survived, at least initially. They were airlifted out, but that was the last I heard.

[Talonetc]

Close to a story I ran into one of the last times I was home in Tampa. I pulled up on a horrible motorcycle accident, a kid had been doing something stupid on a crotch rocket and lost control, and hit a palm tree taking a quarter chunk out of the trunk. No helmet. Needless to say, he didn't make it... all we could do was cover the body. I was there with a few of the people who actually witnessed the accident, and we had both lane in one direction blocked with our cars because of the blood and debris. Some asshole behind us started honking, asked what the fuck we were all doing. I pointed to the bike and told him "Take a look at the damn tree. See that fucked up bike over there? Do you think the rider made it? Shut the fuck up we're waiting for the damn paramedics." The guy was dumbfounded, and it rightfully so. I wanted to drop the guy. Have some respect for the dead and pray for the wounded... jeez.

[Becks]

I simply can't believe (oh, wait...I CAN, and that's the problem) that people act like that.

How horrible.

[Kilamon]

Last year, someone (a woman, on her cell phone) made a wrong turn and went the wrong way on a one way. She did this without looking. As a result, she seriously injured 2 motorcyclists and killedo one (3 out of the 4 riders in a group of 4 bikes). She only received a plain ol' traffic ticket for going the wrong way, 4 points on her license and a $67 fine. Of course, people in the city were more concerned about how she'd managed to do this at a major thoroughfare and the news focused more on how to get around the scene than why this woman wasn't being charged with vehicular manslaughter.

[protege]

Shortly after I started working, one night there was a *massive* traffic jam. Second Avenue (Hazelwood) is usually backed up anyway, simply because it's only one lane in each direction, and the traffic lights further up. However, we're not even on Second yet--most of us are sitting at the light at the end. Most of us were like since it's never that bad. Ended up sitting in traffic, in the ghetto of all places. At the time, there were some problems with gangs in the area. In other words, somewhere you *don't* really want to be.

Anyway, what happened, was that a crackhead had shot a few people , tried to run from police, and had a serious accident. Not only did he hit another car nearly head-on, but he snapped off a telephone pole as well...cutting his riced-out Subaru Impreza in half. The end of Second Ave, before it ducks under the railroad tracks, is a virtual speedway--the limit is only 35, but people tend to do multiple times that.

I had no idea what was going on, simply because I couldn't see anything. Didn't stop the guy behind me from constantly blowing his horn...even after we saw the flatbeds hauling the wrecks away.

[MystyGlyttyr]

I had one like that a while back. I was on my way home from work and noticed an S-curve ahead that was practically strobing with blue and red lights. I immediately put my car on the side of the road and walked over to see what was going on, and saw it was an 18-wheeler that had flipped completely UPSIDE-DOWN and the cops were still trying to just FIND the driver, let alone get him out. (He escaped with just a broken leg, really lucky.)

So I called it in to the paper for a photographer to come out, then paired off with one of the officers to help flag traffic through the one open lane (I used to work for the highway department and got to know a few of the officers, so they knew I had experience and they needed all the help they could get-this was a pretty complicated area of road).

Naturally, most people saw the, oh, I dunno, dozen police cars gathered around, the hospital's helicopter waiting in an adjacent field, or the people like me gesturing with glowing flags and flashlights, and they figured out "Hey, something happened, I'd better wait until they wave me through."

Again, naturally, we got this one big burly redneck who came screaming around the corner at at LEAST half again the regular speed limit, left a pound of rubber on the road when he squealed his brakes, and came close enough to us that the officer pushed me off to the side and was getting ready to make a dive for it himself.

And just in case THAT wasn't enough, he stood on his horn, leaned out his window and started bellowing. "WHAT DUH HELL GOIN' ON?! MOVE! I GOTS TA GIT HOME!!"

That was the first time I ever got to see someone get dragged out of their car and beaten... No, seriously, they arrested his ass on the spot, but sadly, no more physicality beyond pulling him out of the truck and shoving him in a cruiser. That was actually kind of a fun evening, now that I know the truck driver survived in good health. Nothing I'd want to do again, though.

[skeptic53]

Here in Washington State, if there is a traffic fatality, they close the road for up to 8 hours to do a thorough investigation. (Usually it's more like 3-4 hours, but can be 8 or more). It looks like CSI, little plastic numbered tents, measuring everything, photographing everything, etc.

This is because of successful lawsuits in which some drunk wraps his car around a tree and the family wins big bucks because it's the State's fault that the road wasn't built for 100 mph & one hand on the wheel, one on the beer. Nowadays they want to establish that the cause of deadly force had nothing to do with the road, guard rails, etc.

I'm curious, do other states do this? If it happens on the freeway or a major road, it causes stupendous traffic jams.

[Crazeyal]

Quoth MystyGlyttyr

That was the first time I ever got to see someone get dragged out of their car and beaten...

I would have PAID to see that.... I HATE people who freak out over such trivial things.

I also have to control myself when people drive by an accident. Everyone knows somethings up. It's been forty minutes of slow driving. I don't even look at the crash any more, but it's human nature to do so, so no bitching from me. BUT I WANNA TAKE A FLAMETHROWER TO THE IDIOTS WHO DRIVE 20 MPH AND DISCUSS WHAT THEY SAW!!!!!

You got yer perverse stare.. even if there WERE something to look at, get the %@##@# over it and DRIVE!!!

[Raieth]

where I live, (near vancover bc) they only do that if it's more than one car and it's not clear who's fault it is.

Lady on a cell phone turns left when it's a red light get's t-boned? Stupid ladies fault.

Two cars found nose-nose in the middle of the grass meridian? Huge traffic jams until everything is photographed.

[skeptic53]

Doesn't matter this side of the 49th parallel. Just a couple of days ago during AM rush hour a guy pulled out to pass a dump truck, hit a bus head on and bought the farm. They closed the road for most of the morning. Not much doubt who is at fault there. He even had some kind of booze in the car, but it hasn't been stated whether he'd been drinking.