I saw the aftermath of a bad one today.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

It was a late model van, but it was resting on a safety island on its passenger side. All the windows were shattered, and there were several rescue vehicles surrounding it. I didn't see if there was a second vehicle involved- I absolutely refuse to stop and stare when there's so much traffic to move.

It was one where you KNOW someone was hurt, probably very badly. All I could think of was I was witness to lives being changed forever in a single instant of hazy thought or stupidity by some individual.

I've had wrecks myself- I thank God none of them ever produced injury or lasting hardship for me or anyone else. This one will stay in my head a long time- perhaps it'll do some good. My foot tends to the heavy side, and at my age I KNOW the reactions are slowing a bit, and the eyesight is worse. I KNOW it's time to slow down, and I force myself to whenever I discover just how far over the speed limit I am.

Slow down, people. Pay attention. Just because you're strapped in, resting your heiny in a luxuriously padded captain's chair, and you have a primo sound system entertaining you with your favorite mix cd, it doesn't mean that in five seconds you won't be part of a concrete retainer wall. It simply ain't worth whippin' around that slowpoke if you don't see the other car merging into the same lane you want.

It's not a game. It's a deadly business- far too deadly for you to ever relax for even a moment.

Don't make me pass you as you bleed out onto the road, and I'll try very hard not to be the focus of YOUR attention.

Take it slow. There's ALWAYS time to stay alive.

[AlCzervik]

1. It's scary to see that.

About 5 years ago give or take i was driving down the street from my house and i saw this car hauling ass coming up behind me so i moved over to the right lane and about 10 seconds after they passed me the drivers side wheel caught the median and launched the car straight up into the air and then it landed vertically, the hood crashed into the road and then the car bounced back wards and i saw the passenger and i knew it was really, really, so i pulled over and called 911 and i got out of the car and went over to see if i could get either one out and other people did the same thing. The fire department and ambulances and police showed up and the passenger died, she died right there. It was awful, she was 16 years old and the driver was drunk, they were skipping school.

[Danger Mouse]

2. who cares? everyone suffers and dies.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. Perhaps you'll oblige us then.

As if I care. :shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. ...

[Danger Mouse]

7. have fun

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. My dear Elrond Hubbard...

This does not sound like you...

Seeing you say this makes me sad, very sad...

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. I saw one a few years ago, close-up

(News folk get that "privilege," if you wanna call it that in cases like this.)

Both bodies were still in their cars. Wasn't much hurry about getting them out.

I hadn't been much for driving fast since I was young, but since that day, I've slowed down even more.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. Slow down and don't tailgate...

I've seen people drive so close to the car in front of them on the Capitol Beltway that another car couldn't fit between the two. So traffic doesn't flow smoothly, because people can't merge properly, there are dozens of rear-end collisions, and there's no escape for someone who needs to move to the next lane to avoid debris or a collision.

Maybe we need to recite affirmations...
"It's not always about me. It's not always about me. It's not always about me. It's not always about me. It's not always about me."

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. There is a reason why i haven't got my license... too scary

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. My dear Prisoner_Number_Six...

How horrible...

Your points are very well taken...

I really think this is beautifully put:

There's ALWAYS time to stay alive.

:hug:

[Connonym]

11. The roads have been so horrible this winter that I have had several reminders

of how fucking quickly you can lose control of your vehicle. A few years back we passed the scene of a van versus motorcycle accident where the police were just arriving. Seeing the helmeted head lying 1/2 block away from the body and the motorcycle has given me a heightened awareness of paying attention to bikes. I really like that a lot of newer vehicles have rear cameras. It's always been one of my phobias that I will back over a child because I can't see them.

Thanks for this reminder. We DO get complacent.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

13. The worst wreck I ever saw was many years ago

Back in the days before safety belts and enhanced safety standards- it was a two car head-on collision. It was a sunny summer Sunday afternoon. There were ten people in two families in the cars. As the car I was in finally passed I saw a young lady lying in the road next to her smashed car bleeding and screaming in agony.

I heard the next day that all ten people had died.

[Connonym]

14. My grandfather never got over feelings of guilt for being involved in a fatal accident

He was rear-ended and the driver of the other car died at the scene. It wasn't my grandfather's fault at all but it haunted him the rest of his life. The more I think about this the more I think that maybe it's a good thing that we sort of forget and become complacent because if the thoughts of horrible things we've seen or heard of are always in the front of our consciousness it would probably induce insanity and a paralyzing fear of ever leaving the house. It does shake one to the core though.

[TML]

12. I've seen one too

The one I saw was a van on fire. It had flipped and come to rest on its wheels. There were two occupants in the back seat burned to a crisp. The flames shot up about twenty feet high, and smoke billowed about a hundred feet over that.

I slowed down thinking I could do something, but the two occupants were so obviously dead that I drove on.

[DarkTirade]

15. When I'm behind the wheel of my car

I auto(no pun intended)matically switch over into paranoid mode.

Everything is out to get me. Everyone is out to get me. Everyone else on the road is either insane, homocidal, or just plain stupid.

... sad thing is, I'm starting to think that that's not paranoia. That's just an observation of reality.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

16. That's the ONLY way to drive and stay alive.

They ARE all out to get you. Their entire existence is geared toward causing you specifically to die in flaming agony. It IS reality.

And they ARE all extremely stupid. And inept.

[DarkTirade]

17. I've only been involved in two accidents

the first one was because I stopped, for just a moment, expecting everyone around me to do something crazy and/or stupid. And lo and behold, the person in front of me stopped at a green light. On a slippery road. In the dark.

Second time was when I pulled into my driveway and suddenly *bump*. There was a car next to me. Guy lost control and bumped over the curb into my driveway. :P