Lucky me (wreck).

[fdjake]

I'm a Professional Firefighter. My advice to EVERYONE is this....

NEVER, EVER....Pull over to the side of a highway to assist a motorist. I know this sounds cold, but unless you're carrying a medical bag in your car and have emergency medical training, there is very little you can do for a motorist ALREADY involved in an accident. Simply MOVING that person, in an attempt to HELP them, can cause SEVERE harm. There's a video that L.A. County Sheriffs made from a cruiser at the scene of a motor vehicle accident on the highway. A woman involved in a moderate front end collision is seated in her car. She is conscious and alert. A good samaritan opens her car door and helps her out of the car. As she stands up, she turns her head and immediately drops to the ground DEAD.....Her neck had been broken in the crash, and by NOT having a cervical collar placed on her, and NOT being placed on a rigid back board she severed her spinal cord when she turned her head.

Instead of STOPPING......CALL 911!!! Fire fighters use 60,000 lb Fire Trucks to BLOCK for them during these calls. My Engine company had a $400,000 truck TOTALED on the highway when a drunk driver slammed into it at 2am. The truck was placed according to our Departments Standard Operating Guidelines. That truck was 30 feet long, had ALL it's emergency lights on, was placed 200 feet upstream of the accident and traffic, and was parked kitty corner taking up 2 lanes on a 5 lane highway. The drunk driver STILL slammed into what was basically a BUILDING parked on the highway. 6 Firemen plus 2 police officers and 2 victims were never hurt. Without that Apparatus placement, everyone at that scene that night could have easily been severely injured or killed.

The shoulder of a highway is probably THE MOST dangerous place you will ever be. It never occurs to most people because they think people are paying attention. THEY AREN'T.

You were VERY LUCKY to have just lost a Viper and not much more.

USE your CELL PHONES and KEEP DRIVING!!!

 

[SkyBob]

Instead of STOPPING......CALL 911!!! Fire fighters use 60,000 lb Fire Trucks to BLOCK for them during these calls. My Engine company had a $400,000 truck TOTALED on the highway when a drunk driver slammed into it at 2am. The truck was placed according to our Departments Standard Operating Guidelines. That truck was 30 feet long, had ALL it's emergency lights on, was placed 200 feet upstream of the accident and traffic, and was parked kitty corner taking up 2 lanes on a 5 lane highway. The drunk driver STILL slammed into what was basically a BUILDING parked on the highway.

I'm curious. How did the fire truck get totaled? What amount of damage caused it to not be repairable? Was the frame bent? Do you have pictures? I'd love to see that.

Bob

p.s. I don't doubt you. I'm just curious.

 

[dave6666]

The first one hit was a bumble bee. lol pretty bright.

White hood vents maybe?



Anyway... Glad you weren't hurt.



Regarding the don't stop on the highway shoulder comment above, the last ticket I got the cop cited me for not pulling over immediately on the Interstate, as I choose to take the next exit and pull in to a Quikie Mart. I got that charge dropped, but yeah, too many people texting or eating their Whopper or ??? not paying attention to the road.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

2 Totaled Vipers? Both times, someone hit you?

 

[fdjake]

The Fire truck was totaled because of where the drunk driver hit it. Passengers side(Officers side)right rear corner of the cab. It twisted & racked the frame. Because of potential liabilty, Insurance companies are VERY LEERY of placing a Fire truck back in service that is not completely 100% so they totaled it.
We park these trucks at an angle with the front of the truck facing IN towards the scene. We always take 2 LANES on the highway for a buffer. This "angle" also provides protection to the pump operator (driver) should the car/cars involved in an accident start BURNING. The firefighter and the valves that must be opened for the truck to pump water would be protected from traffic using this placement technique.

Sorry no pics....But it never looked that bad from the outside. You would have NEVER thought the truck was a total loss. It wasn't until measurements were taken that the full extent of the damage was revealed.

PLEASE......NEVER STOP ON THE HIGHWAY.....Call 911 and let the Pro's handle it. I saw a guy DECAPITATED on the highway because he had stopped to help a guy who had already died from a massive heart attack while driving. (another situation where NO ONE could have helped this motorist) The good samaritan was hit by a truck and thrown into an overpass support at about 75 mph.

But the WORST thing we see is people stopping with KIDS in their CARS!!!!
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER do this. They leave their kids in the car seats and those kids are TRAPPED. At least the parents MIGHT have a shot of getting out of the way IF they see someone coming at them...Those kids are in big trouble if that car gets hit.

Sorry to be so negative....But believe me....You DO NOT want to experience this first hand!!

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

USE your CELL PHONES and KEEP DRIVING!!!

I agreed with everything you wrote except that last part. I would suggest pulling over when it is safe to do so, stop and then use your cell phone.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Come on now...is that really necessary? You are asking him to admit to something...do YOU know something that you are not sharing or are you simply speculating?

It may have been worded rather abruptly but I don't blame zilla for questioning the accident. Nothing against SquadX but he hasn't been around long so we don't really know him and let's face it, it's the internet where bs rules.

I've been here for years and if I was involved in an accident that wasn't my fault I'd post the report if someone asked me to.

Anyways, glad you're ok Squad. Better luck with your next Viper.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

But the WORST thing we see is people stopping with KIDS in their CARS!!!!
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER do this. They leave their kids in the car seats and those kids are TRAPPED. At least the parents MIGHT have a shot of getting out of the way IF they see someone coming at them...Those kids are in big trouble if that car gets hit.

Are you sure about that? The way cars are built nowadays and the way those child seats strap a kid in the car might be the safest place to be. Of all the good samaritans you've seen end up as victims how many of them were outside the car and how many of them were strapped in with seatbelts?

 

[SquadX]

2 Totaled Vipers? Both times, someone hit you?

Yep, first time I was in the left lane merging onto the highway and a females comes from the lane which turns into the merge lane and merges right into me. speed was 25-30 so not sure what she was doing. Guess just not playing attention.

 

[dave6666]

Can you still get a ticket for witness leaving the scene of an accident? Do they still do that?

 

[SquadX]

It may have been worded rather abruptly but I don't blame zilla for questioning the accident. Nothing against SquadX but he hasn't been around long so we don't really know him and let's face it, it's the internet where bs rules.

I've been here for years and if I was involved in an accident that wasn't my fault I'd post the report if someone asked me to.

Anyways, glad you're ok Squad. Better luck with your next Viper.

The police report should be ready Monday or Tuesday according to the officer at the barrack, Ill post when I get a copy.

Ive been around, just started life at Viperalley back in 04.

Only reason I posted this was that I am lucky again, I was hurt but unlucky as to the conditions around the accident ( I was hit trying to help someone else). Also, while I was tailing the drunk driver before he crashed, we passed an accident where the car ran into the trees on the right side of the road at the only spot were there is not guardrail and after the police came for my accident, a couple cars stopped to tell the state trooper that another accident had taken place and when my wife was driving to pick me up, the person in front of her slams on brakes and stops in the middle of the road and stays there and then she passes another accident. Sad to say that is topical of route 50, right outside of Washington dc Fri and Sat nights as many leave the bars drunk. They do have check points every now and then at the DC/Maryland line but not enough.

 

[fdjake]

Chuck 98 RT/10 says....."ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT??"

Are you KIDDING me????

Well to break it down for you it goes like this....Hit on the HIGHWAY outside a vehicle = DEAD. The ones IN their cars are usually SEVERELY INJURED or DIE when their car is CRUSHED between the vehicle that hits them, and the other GOOD SAMARITANS cars that have stopped to "help". This usually happens for 2 reasons....They take OFF their SEAT BELTS to get out of their car, or hadn't put it back on when HIT. ALSO.....NONE of these cars have FUEL CELLS so if just ONE of them gets a ruptured fuel tank it creates an even larger disaster.

Let me put it this way.....

When a car with kids in it (or ANYONE for that matter) gets rear ended at 70 mph by a tractor trailer or even a large SUV...I don't care what kind of VEHICLE or what type of SEATS those kids are in.....
They're either DEAD or SERIOUSLY injured...........FOR WHAT?????? Do you have THAT much faith in your car and your car seats to RISK IT??? AGAIN......FOR WHAT?????

I can tell CHUCK from EXPERIENCE that NOTHING is going to protect his children if they are hit by a vehicle that is moving at a high rate of speed. N O T H I N G !!! I've seen MOTORCYCLES completely destroy CARS that they've hit. Also....A car on FIRE with people trapped inside it, CRUSHED from the rear bumper to the back of the front seats, is not something you forget seeing. Especially when you find out later that the burning car had stopped to see if they could help the person involved in the intial accident but that person had ALREADY LEFT THE SCENE!!!! Guess how I know this?????? I'll give you a HINT.....That trapped victim comes by our station every Christmas (when the accident occured) to thank us for getting her OUT of that burning car. We call her LOTTERY GIRL....Because she was the luckiest person on EARTH that night.

Here's the BEST PART.....NONE of these now VICTIMS rendered ANY medical aid to the initial accident victims. Unless you carry a set of JAWS in your Camry, you're not even getting IN most of these vehicles. You're taking a HUGE RISK. In the Fire service we call that a POOR risk/reward ratio. You RISK a lot when there's a CHANCE of SAVING a lot....You risk LITTLE when there's little chance of saving anything. A person involved in a severe HIGH SPEED accident on the highway needs a lot more emergency medical attention than the majority of good samaritans could ever hope to provide. The BEST thing they could do is simply CALL 911 and STAY AWAY from that scene.

Unless you're in a FIRE TRUCK.....DO NOT STOP ON THE HIGHWAY.....Can I make that any clearer???

DAVE6666,

That cop was an @sshole.....My father was a police officer for 30 years...He used to tell my brother and I all the time that he would ALWAYS give a BREAK to a driver that did EXACTLY what you did. By NOT making him stand out in traffic on a highway to write a ticket, he figure the guy EARNED a break. He also said he ALWAYS told them WHY he cut them some slack in the hope that they would REPEAT that behavior in the future if stopped by another officer, thus keeping more cops safe!

Some people should NOT be police officers....Sounds like you found another one.

 

[eucharistos]

stinks man, glad you're ok

peace

 

[ViperJohn]

Wow, shame to hear, could have always been worse. Now what color/style are you going to get? Didn't you get more motorwork done on this one as well or did you transfer everything over from the bumblebee?

 

[SA HEAT]

Can you still get a ticket for witness leaving the scene of an accident? Do they still do that?

Not in Texas.

 

[SquadX]

Took nothing from from the bumble bee but the stereo. Rebuilt engine on this one. Paxton. Team tech harness. Half shafts rims new stereo etc. All mods were insured as well.

 

[dave6666]

fdjake... Thanks for the support on the ticket writing machines that patrol my town. If they would ever do anything besides say "License and proof of insurance," followed by "Sign here sir," I might offer to tell him that I am not his friend.

Also... Chill out. We are not children, we are not stupid, and if I want to stop and render aid to a situation that I feel I can be effective at, I will. Even in respect to your professional opinion.

You kind of remind me of listening to a Police Captain talking about his troops in a pursuit matter... "They have special training..."

WHATEVER!

I probably have a greater risk of dying because I start my car and head out yonder, then because I choose to stop it somewhere to be a good Samaritan.

 

[DLTARNU]

My best friend is a Battalion Chief for a large county here in FL. He's a paramedic/firefighter. We were driving along one day, and came to an intersection perhaps 2 minutes after an accident had occurred. It was bad. An old woman had been broadsided for what looked like going through an intersection while the light was red.

She was visibly in bad shape. A cop had arrived on scene and was talking to her. I asked him if he wanted to stop, he paused for a few seconds, then told me to keep driving. So I started giving him a hard time about not helping, and he said there isn't anything he could do. He didn't have gear, drugs, even gloves. He told me all he could do would be talk to her, and the cop was doing that already. The station was near and the guys on duty would be there very soon.

I understand the point, it still seems cold, though.

Personally, when I have to pull over on the highway, I pull into the grass NEXT to the emergency lane, several feet over. If I am on a highway where there is only an emergency lane and then concrete, I don't pull over unless I have no other choice. I had two blowouts, several years apart, and I was forced to stop. Even then I drove with the chunked tire to a spot that had a bit more breathing room.

If I saw a bad accident, I would still stop to help the driver. I wouldn't touch them, unless they were about to burn to death or drown by being trapped in the car, but even if you can't offer medical assistance, just having another person talking to you is comforting for someone who is likely in a great deal of pain, scared and in shock.

 

[fdjake]

Dave6666,

I never said you were a CHILD (although you seem to ACT like one at times here)

I could CARE LESS if you get out at EVERY ACCIDENT you come upon. Have a BALL...We call guys like you...JOB SECURITY.
You can park yourself and your VIPER out on the MEDIAN and WAIT for accidents to occur.........I DON'T CARE!!!

It's NOT a question of how STUPID you are or how SMART you are. The point of the post was to HOPEFULLY get SOME folks here to RE-CONSIDER the RISK/REWARDS of stopping on a HIGHWAY to basically DO NOTHING!!!

You say you could be effective at the scene????

HOW???? Is your car stocked with KED boards, Hare traction splints, back boards and cervical collars???

You'll do what every IDIOT does at one of these scenes....

GET IN OUR WAY or cause MORE injuries!!!!!

That example of the Battalion Chief NOT stopping for that accident made my entire point. He didn't stop because 1) although the woman was obviously hurt, she was CONSCIOUS and TALKING, both excellent signs. 2) As a Battalion Chief, he knew how risky stopping could be, AND...... he had another person WITH HIM!!!
That is a SMART, obviously EXPERIENCED, Firefighter.

Hopefully SOME people here can see the value in this advice....But....some will just do what they want and eventually they TOO could get to ride in an ambulance!!!!

Last year we did a fund raiser for a local guy killed on the highway because he stopped to help a woman involved in a MINOR accident. SHE never even went to the hospital. He was hit by a passing car and killed. The fund raiser was for his FOUR CHILDREN!!!!

THINK about that RISK/REWARD picture.....For you AND your FAMILY!

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Chuck 98 RT/10 says....."ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT??"

Are you KIDDING me????

Jeeze man, relax. I was responding to your "They leave their kids in the car seats and those kids are TRAPPED." comment. I was simply responding to your scenario of, IF someone pulls over and IF they get out of the car then leaving their kid in the car "trapped" as you say, is probably safer than taking them out of the car where there is zero protection.

Wouldn't you agree?

Ultimately however, one should not pull over to assist. On that we both agree.

Clear now?

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

You'll do what every IDIOT does at one of these scenes....

GET IN OUR WAY or cause MORE injuries!!!!!

Contraire to the nightly news most people are typically good-willed and want to help when they see folks in trouble. Folks are just trying to do what they think is right. Is there any real need for you to be a pompous a-hole about it, a personality trait becoming more and more inherent with folks in your profession?

 

[dave6666]

fdjake... Read my words carefully, as I write them even more carefully.

I said that if I feel I can be effective, I will. That insinuates nothing. NOTHING. It does not suggest my capabilities, nor declare my resources. I may simply be the one to access the situation while on the phone to 911. An assessment that is not as accurate at 65 mph while looking backward.

And don't be such a *****. I'm not in your way, I don't park in the median, and just because you may be a fireman does not mean you can act like a **** and get my respect.

 

[fdjake]

Let's recap shall we????

So far we've had a MEMBER here (squadx) recount a close call he had while stopping to assist a motorist. His VIPER was WRECKED, and he told us he came within moments of being in that car when it was hit. HE EVEN POSTS PICTURES!!!! If that isn't bad enough.....

He's then ACCUSED on making it all up???? To the point where in his last reply he's posting the POLICE REPORT Monday???


SQUAD X.....I completely believe you descibed this event EXACTLY as it happened. Don't waste your time posting a police report. Anyone here who can't take your WORD for it, is not worth a second of your time. Why on EARTH would you make this up???

Then CHUCK says....Yea, He hasn't been here that long and the internet if full of BS....HEY CHUCK....Let us know when SQUADX's security clearance is completed so we can BELIEVE HIM! (and "I'M" the pompous @sshole????)It's mind boggling....

I'm just glad the guy didn't get hurt. If he hadn't stopped and just called 911 he'd be driving his VIPER today!! Imagine THAT feeling...KNOWING that if you had just kept driving you would still have a VIPER....Now try to imagine NOT having the use of your LEGS for the rest of your LIFE because you stopped!!!
Again...I UNDERSTAND why people stop...It's out of a desire to HELP...I get it....But in my experience THOSE PEOPLE are the folks that get REALLY hurt. It's never the person in the intial accident. That's the TRAGEDY in these situations...GOOD PEOPLE....BRAVE PEOPLE....STOP to help a fellow human and get killed or severely hurt.
On top that...The care they can provide is very limited. It's not because they CAN'T HELP, or don't know how to, or that Firefighters are better than anyone else...These people just don't have the EQUIPMENT with them.

VIPER owners are some of the best people I have ever met. I've been helped here on more than one occasion by members.

Enjoy your cars....Keep THEM and YOURSELVES safe.

The SERMON has ended.....Go in PEACE!

 

[dave6666]

The SERMON has ended...

And I wonder how many people you've Baptized with your way?

There are many ways to deliver a message - make a point. And I've seen it more than once from military and public servant positions where the message is fear of God with holier than thou delivery from the sender.

Personally, I don't give a damn if you are a firefighter or whatever. That makes you no better than me or anyone else in my opinion. So when you come in telling me and others to abandon a belief to help a fallen citizen because we are putting ourselves in danger and we don't know what we are doing and we have no stuff to do anything with and we make your life difficult and...?

You need to get off your perch and respect the intelligence of your audience.

And why do you have to edit all of your posts?

 

[Billy Coons]

My Dad is a retired Philly Fireman and says the same thing.

I'm a Professional Firefighter. My advice to EVERYONE is this....

NEVER, EVER....Pull over to the side of a highway to assist a motorist. I know this sounds cold, but unless you're carrying a medical bag in your car and have emergency medical training, there is very little you can do for a motorist ALREADY involved in an accident. Simply MOVING that person, in an attempt to HELP them, can cause SEVERE harm. There's a video that L.A. County Sheriffs made from a cruiser at the scene of a motor vehicle accident on the highway. A woman involved in a moderate front end collision is seated in her car. She is conscious and alert. A good samaritan opens her car door and helps her out of the car. As she stands up, she turns her head and immediately drops to the ground DEAD.....Her neck had been broken in the crash, and by NOT having a cervical collar placed on her, and NOT being placed on a rigid back board she severed her spinal cord when she turned her head.

Instead of STOPPING......CALL 911!!! Fire fighters use 60,000 lb Fire Trucks to BLOCK for them during these calls. My Engine company had a $400,000 truck TOTALED on the highway when a drunk driver slammed into it at 2am. The truck was placed according to our Departments Standard Operating Guidelines. That truck was 30 feet long, had ALL it's emergency lights on, was placed 200 feet upstream of the accident and traffic, and was parked kitty corner taking up 2 lanes on a 5 lane highway. The drunk driver STILL slammed into what was basically a BUILDING parked on the highway. 6 Firemen plus 2 police officers and 2 victims were never hurt. Without that Apparatus placement, everyone at that scene that night could have easily been severely injured or killed.

The shoulder of a highway is probably THE MOST dangerous place you will ever be. It never occurs to most people because they think people are paying attention. THEY AREN'T.

You were VERY LUCKY to have just lost a Viper and not much more.

USE your CELL PHONES and KEEP DRIVING!!!

 

[SkyBob]

And why do you have to edit all of your posts?

You might get angry at the un-edited version.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

And why do you have to edit all of your posts?

He hasn't quite grasped the internet yet. He is also as overly excitable as a 23-year-old to the point that reading comprehension eludes him. And the thought "I should've said this" is popping into his head every couple hours.

He doesn't think anyone would make a story like SquadX's up. However, we all know how easy and often Vipers get wrecked and we all know about man's pride in being able to drive and we know how much BS and flat out lies fly around the internet, and we've all read BS and flat out lies on the internet and most of us don't know much about SquadX. So the question of story confirmation isn't a big deal to the veterans of the internet.

None of this meant to offend SquadX in any way. In fact, it's getting so ridiculous I hope you're as entertained as I am. And better luck with your next Viper.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

"I'M" the pompous @sshole????

But you're so much more than just that.

 

[dave6666]

My Dad is a retired Philly Fireman and says the same thing.

And I have no problem with that information being made available to me to use in my judgment. Hopefully your dad uses a more respectful approach of everyone being able to think and make smart decisions on their own.

Advice does not have to be obnoxious.

 

[fdjake]

Dave and Chuck both have my personal blessing to stop at ALL highway accidents!!!

In a tough economy there's nothing like job security!!