by "Hooker" (Hooker)
Published 05/22/2017 at 12:15
by "Hooker" (Hooker)
Published 05/22/2017 at 12:15
No Tags
STARS: 12
Yesterday, I responded (along with most of the first responders in my county) to a horrific car wreck. Single vehicle (Ford Explorer Sport. 5 passenger capacity) rollover with 7 (!) passengers inside. At least 4 of them were unrestrained and ejected from the vehicle upon multiple rollovers. The ages were around 4 years to late teens. Adults in the front seat, reasonably unharmed. The children/teens were almost all ejected from the vehicle. At least two of them had been riding in the cargo area of the vehicle prior to the wreck. The most bald tires I have ever seen in my life.
People, hear this and commit it to memory forever: SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES. If all of these people had been restrained properly they would very likely all still be alive. Because of A) inappropirate adult enforcement of seat belts, B) inappropriate number of seats for the passengers inside and C) Complete lack of safety maintenance of the vehicle, this family has suffered great loss. Looking at the vehicle and how it rolled, it could very well have been easily survivable.
These deaths and injuries were mostly preventable. Please, do better. I don’t ever want to respond to a scene like that again.
As a side note, if you are a rubber-neckin’ fuck who doesn’t pay attention to the road as you drive by a scene of an accident, subsequently wrecking yourself, you are the lowest of the low. I have zero respect for you. You just took valuable resources from this scene to nurse your hurt pride and hurting finger because you’re a fucking idiot. No sympathy for you.
End rant. Sorry. I needed to vent today.
"random001" (random001)
05/22/2017 at 12:14, STARS: 1
Ugh. Just...ugh...
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:18, STARS: 0
Yeah. I have similar thoughts.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
05/22/2017 at 12:19, STARS: 6
Ugh. Fucking hell. I don’t think I could handle being a first responder. You have my sincere respect.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
05/22/2017 at 12:20, STARS: 6
Damn, man....just damn. You had me at “ Explorer Sport ” and then added the passenger count and the bald tires. That ’ s all the worst stuff that can happen at once, and almost all preventable. If people can ’ t afford maintenance, there are ways to get it done. Go buy some used tires if you have to. Ask around. Our church does stuff like this for people from time to time — they come to our food pantry, but need other things and we have a discretionary fund for it.
But I hate to think about all the people with new iPhones, 300 channels of TV, and bald tires. So often it isn ’ t about need, it ’ s about ignorance and priorities. Cars are freaking dangerous, people. I just wish the cops had seen the situation before this happened.
Thanks for your service. Sometimes if people don’t immediately buckle up in my car, I read them the riot act about “Why would you want to make life harder on the first responders.” I hate that you have to see this stuff firsthand, but I’m glad you’re out there doing it.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
05/22/2017 at 12:21, STARS: 0
Damn. How many fatalities? What are you, Fire? Ambulance?
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 2
This. And I know smart phones are inexpensive these days, ish but their plans aren’t. Almost everyone there had one. Priorities is right. I just don’t understand. At least 2 of the 4 ejected could have been much less injured/dead if they had just had a seat belt on. The roof was mostly intact in the rear.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 1
Yeah, there are days I feel similarly, but we fall back on our training and go to work. It’s rewarding most times. And for times like this, we learn. Thank you.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 0
One so far. Haven’t heard of more and may never. But it wasn’t looking great last night for a second passenger. I am Fire/Ems with a local fire dept.
"Berang" (berang)
05/22/2017 at 12:32, STARS: 1
There are still a lot of people who see seat belt laws as “nanny state” nonsense.
I feel bad for everybody who has to pick up after them.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
05/22/2017 at 12:33, STARS: 1
This makes me weep. It seems like it’s almost always the children who suffer most. We have seatbelt laws here. It doesn’t stop me from seeing people riding in the bed of a beat up old pickup on the way to their next job, or better yet, sometimes families with their kids riding in the bed.
"CB" (jrcb)
05/22/2017 at 12:33, STARS: 1
Damn, that’s horrible. I hope you’re okay through all this.
Also, on rubbernecking: people are idiots. I’ll ask a passenger to see what happened if it’s a serious accident, since it’s my job as the driver to make sure another one doesn’t happen.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
05/22/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 1
I am a teacher and in many ways, I don’t think it’s so different from Fire/EMS, in that we both interact with people in the moment and in
extremis
. Obviously, your clientele are much more mangled than mine. But being successful requires us to care deeply in the moment, and then move on. If we own it too closely or two long, then we lessen our own effectiveness and there is less available for the next client who needs us. It is good to share. Thank you.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
05/22/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 0
Yep, structural integrity is amazing now, but we’re still just fragile little rag dolls being tossed around inside (or outside). Even with belts, you still have cranial impacts with the pillar and roof. Rollovers create a lot of centrifugal force, as you well know. I’m not saying that to make you feel bad, just that even if things had gone much better with belts, there’s only so much you can do. And those older SWB Explorers were pretty twitchy on a good day. A good friend of mine has one and they refuse to take it on road trips with the family, it’s just his commuter car.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:46, STARS: 1
You couldn’t be more right! That’s part of the reason I was so amazed at how good of condition the vehicle was when I saw it and saw what it was. It was a pure miracle that it wasn’t worse. However, it still was due to the circumstances at hand.
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
05/22/2017 at 12:47, STARS: 1
Just like shop-teacher I don’t think I could handle being Fire/EMS. I was offered jobs on ambulance squads when I was younger because I was a lifeguard and already had professional rescuer CPR, First Aid and backboard training. I declined because I decided it was a much nicer experience to chill at the pool and yell at people to walk so I didn’t have to deal with scraped knees. I’d always rather not use that training as opposed to guaranteed to use it.
Hats off to you guys
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:47, STARS: 0
You’re right. That’s part of the process here. Getting it out of me and into the world. And I felt like, even though I am certain most of the people here are safe drivers, it doesn’t hurt to remind people here or there the consequences of our actions. Or our inactions.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:49, STARS: 1
Right on man. I use my passengers. They know it, getting into my car, they will be deputized accordingly and for the same reasons. I’ll be OK. I just forgot what it felt like to respond to one of these events. It throws you into an odd state of shock/fog/disbelief for a while. It’s hard to reconcile. But you work through it.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:51, STARS: 1
Sadly, it does happen like this a lot. I don’t want to ruin everyone’s fun. Hell, I have been in the back of a pickup/car before in precarious situations as a younger person. But the difference was we were on a farm and going about 5 miles per hours. Not saying something horrible couldn’t still happen but there is a better time and place for this kind of thing. In a much more controlled setting. With better maintained vehicles.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 12:52, STARS: 0
I think, in this situation, it was more ignorance than anything. Also, the ability to consider yourself invincible. We all have the ability to believe, firmly, that it won’t happen to us. Until it does.
"Berang" (berang)
05/22/2017 at 13:22, STARS: 3
I think so too. I’ve often thought “I don’t need to buckle up I’m just going down the block” but then remembering that bad shit always happens right when you think everything is going to be ok.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
05/22/2017 at 13:31, STARS: 1
Oh, I don’t know; there are a bunch of kids in Oppoland...
Keep up the good work.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
05/22/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 1
Yeah, and I’m talking on the highway at 65 mph or on city streets at 30-45 mph.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 14:05, STARS: 1
People just think they’re above it all. It’s scary. Because honestly, it’s not usually them that get’s hurt, it’s someone else based off their poor decisions.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 14:06, STARS: 0
Thank you. I think I come off here as a raving lunatic but this morning when I wrote it I was still very emotional.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 14:07, STARS: 0
Exactly. It really is when you least expect it. You can’t prevent everything. No one gets out of life alive. But you can potentially not end it earlier than it should be too.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 14:08, STARS: 1
Trust me, we’d rather not have to use the training as well. It’s got its ups and downs. We do get wins. But the losses just have a much bigger impact. Sadly. Thank you for the hat tip sir.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
05/22/2017 at 14:09, STARS: 1
It’s good. Be excellent.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
05/22/2017 at 14:10, STARS: 1
Yup. Saw a guy next to me driving in to work today that’s the exception to that rule. He was in a lovely green NB Miata, dwarfed by the standard Texas trucks and SUVs around him. He had his cell phone propped up over his gauge cluster. Don’t know what he was looking at, but if he makes a mistake, it’s him that’ll suffer. Only thing he wins over in a collision is a pedestrian or a bicycle.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 14:51, STARS: 2
Shit, I got hit on my bicycle one time by an old Honda Del Sol and they totaled his car. I mean, my bike was trashed too but still!
"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig)
05/22/2017 at 14:58, STARS: 3
It amazes me that around half of the traffic deaths in America happen because people aren’t wearing seat belts. It’s like younger people who start smoking. I understand addiction, but why would you start smoking, having grown up with all the PSAs and school assemblies and such about how it’s basically the dumbest thing you can do. It’s not even cool anymore.
Except that not wearing a seat belt isn’t even addictive. It’s just dumb.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
05/22/2017 at 15:05, STARS: 1
Well I took out the roof of a Pontiac with my bike. I mean, I was trashed, but at least I totaled his car.
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
05/22/2017 at 15:07, STARS: 0
Oh I’m sure on that first part. Difference is you signed up for a job where you knew you were definitely going to use it.
I had 2 saves in 13 years of being certified as a lifeguard.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 15:30, STARS: 0
Agreed. Though, even with that knowledge and acceptance it doesn’t make the coping process any different. I went to that wreck yesterday fully prepared in my mind. Had seen it before. Dealt with deal and dismemberment. It still shook me. I will get past it like I have in the past but it still hits you hard when it happens. And to be honest, I wouldn’t want to become completely numb to it. I think you lose your ability to provide excellent care when you lose that feeling.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 15:31, STARS: 1
Well said.
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
05/22/2017 at 16:20, STARS: 1
Definitely hear what your saying. Glad their’s guys like you who will take that job.
"Quadradeuce" (quadradeuce)
05/22/2017 at 16:22, STARS: 1
I see unrestrained toddlers in the back of cars all the time (I drive a pickup, so I can see down into most cars). Jumping around, standing between the front seats, etc. Mind boggling.
"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
05/22/2017 at 16:49, STARS: 1
I know the feeling man. A few months back, I was witness to Sears box truck that abruptly crossed three lanes of interstate traffic, left the roadway, and hit a tree head-on. It was one of those cab-over Mitsubishis, and the cab separated from the rest of the disintegrating truck and landed about 40 feet away, over on a frontage road after going through a fence. The driver, who was box intoxicated and in possible under the influence of marijuana, was wearing his seatbelt and survived. The passenger, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected about 20 feet and was DOA. Myself and few others stopped to try and help, but it was useless. EMS tried to resuscitate him upon arrival to no avail. Very gruesome scene that I hope I never have to encounter again. I just don’t understand the logic that goes through someone’s head thinking that they don’t need to take every safety precaution available when hurtling down the asphalt in a giant box of steel / aluminum at 70mph with concrete barriers to one side and trees to other (or the logic of operating such a machine while intoxicated, but that’s another rant). How can you care so little about your own mortality?
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 16:53, STARS: 0
I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s a harrowing experience for sure. I will never understand people’s decisions/ignorance either. Especially, that passenger had to know his driver wasn’t quite right. Good on you and others for trying to help. Most would have just driven on and forgotten about it.
"Hooker" (Hooker)
05/22/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 0
I know. It’s terrible. You can’t fix stupid. I was recently on a road, doing about 60 in a 55 and a woman was in the passing lane weaving all over the place. She was on her phone doing God knows what. Her (come to find out 12 year old) daughter in the rear seat. Buckled, thankfully. But she was so clueless towards her disregard for her and her daughters safety. I gave her an ear full. She appologized. I asked her not to appologize to me, but her daughter. I just couldn’t believe how dumb she was.