posted
So I was on my way to work, just a couple of blocks from my place, and stopped at a light. To the left of my car was an empty left turn lane. A guy was picking his way through the stopped cars well outside the crosswalk, ahead of the car in front of mine. Right as he stepped into the turn lane, a car came by and WHAM! He rolled up on the hood, ankles in the air, and then fell down in front of the car where I couldn't see him.
The driver got out to check out the guy, who wasn't getting up. The driver started shouting for someone to call 911, and I already had my phone out. My fingers weren't working right, and I managed to just dial 9 a couple times before I got through.
I'll say this for the EMTs and cops: They were on top of their game. They got on the scene in about two minutes, definitely under three. The light only changed a couple of times before they showed up.
This is where it gets a little surreal. sometime after I called 911, a white SUV with a black Jolly Roger decal pulled up behind the car that had hit the pedestrian. A man in full pirate regalia got out and started directing traffic and telling bystanders only to move the hurt dude enough to get him out of traffic.
I wrote down my name and number on a bit of newspaper and gave it to a cop who was on the scene. He called me a little later to ask me a few questions, and I got the impression that someone ahead of me had stopped in the crosswalk. I just wanted to make sure the driver didn't get in trouble.
Do you think I should have done more? Could I have?
EDIT - I forgot to add I haven't been able to find any info on the status of the guy hit.
posted
No, you did what you could. It sounds very similar to a pedestrian accident I witnessed 10 years ago. It was very shocking to see, I still remember it vividly.
The guy in full Pirate costume directing traffic is bizarre.
I hope that the guy is OK. Also, I hope it wasn't too traumatic for you, Juxtapose.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
It is horrible to see that kind of thing. I saw a man commit suicide by jumping of the carpark roof directly opposite our (then) apartment, and it really affected me for a while.
I think you did all you could.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I was a little freaked out (who wouldn't be) but certainly not traumatized. Thanks for the thought though.
It would be nice to know that the pedestrian is okay. Hopefully the local news will have something tomorrow.
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
It is horrible to see something like that. Juxtapose, it sounds like you did exactly the right thing.
When things like that happen, they remind us viscerally that any of us could be killed at any time. Death is no respecter of age, wealth, or position.
People on foot or on bicycle are in so much more danger from cars than they usually realize. Whenever you're walking or riding your bike on the street, drivers just can't see you until the very last instant, or later (after they hear the thump).
One good way to gauge the probability or risk of something happening is to ask whether or not it has happened among your group of friends and acquaintances. I know indirectly of 5 different people (friends or friends of friends) who have been hit and killed or seriously injured while running, walking, or riding bikes on the street. It's just not a smart thing to do. No matter how safe it feels to the one doing it, it's extremely dangerous.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think you did all you could given the situation, unless you had training to be able to do more then you did. I probably would have been one of the people to get out of my car and check his vitals.
Did you find out what happened to the man? ----
While on a photography trip I saw a man laying in the street with his head on the sidewalk. As strange as that sounds I honestly though he was just relaxing, (these things are well within the realm of possibility in Hong Kong) I took his picture and went on my way. When I came back 10-15 minutes later there was a policeman waiting for an ambulance and it was clear the man was dead. I took some more pictures. When I developed them I was struck by how sorry the scene looks. The man was laying in the street clearly dead and at least 10 people walking by him paying him no head even the cop was just staring in the opposite direction.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:This is where it gets a little surreal. sometime after I called 911, a white SUV with a black Jolly Roger decal pulled up behind the car that had hit the pedestrian. A man in full pirate regalia got out and started directing traffic and telling bystanders only to move the hurt dude enough to get him out of traffic.
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: It's just not a smart thing to do. No matter how safe it feels to the one doing it, it's extremely dangerous.
I'm not sure I completely understand this statement. Are you honestly suggesting that it's not smart to cross the street on foot or on bike? Some of us don't really have a choice. Trust me, I know that every time I cross a street my life is in danger. My heart races a bit and I pray that the selfish drivers who think they own the road are paying just enough attention to notice someone crossing the street in front of them. Unfortunately, as I'm visually impaired, I can't see their faces to know if they're looking at me. When I see a story like this, I instantly empathize with the pedestrian and think, "That could be me some day." It's pretty scary. The best I can do is to obey all the traffic laws. I always cross at an intersection, in a crosswalk if it's available (although cars BLOCk THE CROSSWALK ON A REGULAR BASIS!!), and with the light. The biggest danger is always from cars turning into me, although someone deciding red lights aren't for them could be a problem too.
posted
Well, it's good to know they're roaming the city, keeping things safe for civilians and directing traffic where ever they find a need. They're like super heroes really.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote:Still no news. I'm assuming this is good news, but I haven't had a chance to pick up a paper yet.
Don't expect news either way, to be honest.
I was on a Tri-Rail train going 80 miles an hour when a pedestrian stepped in front of it. I think I posted about it here somewhere: we were stalled for nearly two hours because of the investigation that had to take place, and because at one point they "can't find the body."
The guy bounced off the glass on the front of the train, in plain sight of the conductor, the on board security and one teenaged girl sitting near them. Didn't phase the conductor or the security much it seemed, but the girl was a wreck, frantically screaming and just flat out losing it.
That day or the next, the only mention that it got in the newspaper was the fact that "Tri-Rail service was delayed for several hours." I don't know the person's name, whether it was suicide or not, or anything. It's as if he didn't exist, and believe me I looked.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: It's just not a smart thing to do. No matter how safe it feels to the one doing it, it's extremely dangerous.
I'm not sure I completely understand this statement. Are you honestly suggesting that it's not smart to cross the street on foot or on bike? Some of us don't really have a choice. Trust me, I know that every time I cross a street my life is in danger. My heart races a bit and I pray that the selfish drivers who think they own the road are paying just enough attention to notice someone crossing the street in front of them. Unfortunately, as I'm visually impaired, I can't see their faces to know if they're looking at me. When I see a story like this, I instantly empathize with the pedestrian and think, "That could be me some day." It's pretty scary. The best I can do is to obey all the traffic laws. I always cross at an intersection, in a crosswalk if it's available (although cars BLOCk THE CROSSWALK ON A REGULAR BASIS!!), and with the light. The biggest danger is always from cars turning into me, although someone deciding red lights aren't for them could be a problem too.
I got the impression she was talking about walking on the street outside the crosswalk (what this guy did) but I may be mistaken.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Dude, that is pretty surreal. I've only witnessed something like that once, and it wasn't pretty. Still wonder what happened to that pedestrian.
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yes, sorry, I was posting in a hurry before I left to go out of town. I meant the fact that he was walking in and around cars in traffic. It's dangerous enough at the crosswalk, but obviously that's not something we can avoid completely.
The other thing I was talking about was running on the street. There's a place near me with a narrow twisty road with a nice wide sidewalk beside it. Runners choose to run in the street and not on the sidewalk. They do it on foggy mornings, at dusk, and in all sorts of low-visibility conditions, even though it's hard enough not to hit them in broad daylight.
The thing I'm emphasizing is that in general, from the street, when you're a pedestrian or bike rider, you feel like you're a lot safer than you actually are. The drivers are swerving and sweating, thinking "man, I almost hit that guy!" and the pedestrians obviously have no clue they almost got killed, because if they did they wouldn't keep doing it.
So my caution was to say "if you're on foot or on a bike near moving cars, remember that you're a whole lot less safe than you think you are. Be extra cautious, way more cautious than you feel like is warranted." It's just a general principle that bears repeating.
Don't bike or run or walk in traffic in the street if you can at all avoid it. Run on a track instead, walk on the sidewalk or off the street. For runners, the exhaust fumes are terrible for your lungs anyway, and the impact you save by running on asphalt will be more than made up by impact from the sheet metal of a car fender. For pedestrians, cross at the crosswalk, and don't participate in those fund-raising events where you wander around in traffic at lights trying to collect from drivers.
Juxtapose, maybe you could find out what happened by calling the pirate guys' organization and seeing if they keep up. They were on the scene longer and might have the fellow's name. I hope he lived.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Tatiana, that was a great idea. I emailed them and received a response. The Seafair Pirates apparently keep pretty close ties with the local fire department, and "Keelhaul" (he's the pirate who was on the scene) has promised to forward me any information they get on the pedestrian's status. He had received a head wound, and was going into shock as the paramedics showed up. Thanks to some pirate intervention, however, no one moved him more than necessary.
Also,
quote:I'm sure it must have been some site to see a large guy jump out of his vehicle in full pirate gear. I shudder to think of what the passer by's must have thought seeing a Pirate stand over someone bloody on the pavement trying to subdue him.
posted
I guess I should throw in something extra based on this line:
quote:Do you think I should have done more? Could I have?
Really you've done a lot. You called 911, you stayed on scene for a report, and you were concerned about whether you've done enough!
And occasionally you'll be in a situation where there will be a lot of people concerned about 'doing enough' and your best bet there would be to ring or redirect traffic or pedestrians and make sure that nobody helps too much or starts trying to move the victim or something.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
I can imagine an ER conversation: --". . . and then I was lying there bleeding when a pirate with an eyepatch and puffy shirt appeared, said "hang on, matey, the ambulance is on the way", and calmly directed traffic." --"We need a head CT, stat!"
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Years ago, I was struck by a car, breaking both legs, under circumstances that I won't go into to protect my innocent self. (I might just mention, however, that the driver was a lawyer.) The relevant part of the story is that about two years later, I saw a man get hit by the car right in front of my car. Almost immidately, both of my legs became paralyzed. I managed to get my car over to the side of the road. But I had to sit there for almost an hour until I could get control of my legs again. The mind is a powerful instrument. I still limp when I smell wet plaster.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
