A terrible start to my vacation.

[EmbraceTheHate]

On my way to the airport last week I witnessed a horrific accident.

Suv swerved to miss a deer rolled 4 times right in front me i saw one guy get ejected. I slammed on my brakes and jumped out. I ran to the guy that was ejected and checked his pulse while calling 911. The guy passed away as I was checking his pulse. His head was in rough shape. I will never forgot the look the guy gave me before his pulse stopped.

Then the other passengers are screaming about a little girl. She was ejected but i couldn't find her.

I had to go once the officer arrived to catch a flight. I was called later and they told me that the guy was doa and the girl made it to the hospital before passing.


If they would of been wearing there seat belts they would all be ok.

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[majorhavoc]

Crap. That is a terrible way to start your vacation, ETH.

Blaming the stupidity of the adults after a tragedy like this is facile, so I won't go there. No one deserves to die like that. I'm glad someone (you) was with that man when he passed. The idea that that little girl died alone in a ditch breaks my heart.

It's possible that the girl had been belted in, but small children are often restrained improperly. A vehicle rolling four times would subject a small body to violent forces and it's entirely conceivable that she slipped out from underneath her seat belt. You'll never know and again it does nothing for the family to belabor the point.

The only thing anyone can do is draw lessons from incidents like these: use your seat belts properly, drive defensively, and remind yourself that sometimes quick, reflexive reaction is the worst possible thing to do. And if you have children, give them a hug.

[Paladin1]

That's pretty sad. I have small children.

[EmbraceTheHate]

I should of been a little clearer the girl was 18 still young but most likely she didn't slip.

As a truck driver I've seen it all but this one really hit me being first on scene.

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[duodecima]

Good for you for stopping. You probably couldn't imagine doing anything else, but some people can.

You have some one slip right out from under your hands like that, you're not human if it doesn't hit you. You can do everything right and it doesn't mean you can always save someone - but you did save him from dying alone.

[Niblick]

I should of been a little clearer the girl was 18 still young but most likely she didn't slip.

As a truck driver I've seen it all but this one really hit me being first on scene.

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That is terrible way to start a vaca, but you did what you could. FWIW, im a pretty thin guy and 2 years ago ( i was 25) I slipped out of a seatbelt during a multiple rollover, so it can happen.

[sigboy40]

This is why I have a hard and fast rule. I do not swerve for animals in the roadway.

[Gray Gator]

Proud that you stopped, but sorry on the outcome.

I live in deer county and if a deer is in my lane at that point and time I aim for it and hold it. If you steer away from it 9 times out of 10 it will be in front of ya.

[KYZHunters]

Don't discount the emotional impact of witnessing things like this. In the last few years firefighters, LEOs and especially EMTs have been acknowledged as likely candidates for PTSD. Keep an eye out for this event eating at you and don't be afraid to talk to someone if it is. As usual, the trained and untrained professionals here at ZS are at your disposal.

[Braxton]

That sucks,

I have worked hundreds of fatal wrecks over the years, and seen a few happen in front of me,

Never gets any easier to deal with.

[The Big Ugly]

I had an experience like that coming home from a vacation about 7 years ago. One ejection, two fatalities (the one ejected and the other person in the same car who wasn't ejected). I still remember, quite vividly, their faces and the scene...

Good on you for stopping to render aid in whatever way you knew how. As has been said, many others may not have. Try to enjoy the rest of your vacation, and be sure to let your loved ones know they're loved.

Sent from my brain using opposable thumbs.

[Kutter_0311]

And try as you might, you'll never be able to drink that memory away. It's a good sign that you're a good person.

To quote a good(but slightly cheezy) movie, "We save the ones we can save. The sea takes the rest..."

[Smü]

Kudos to you for helping, even if it seems to you like you didn't do much. I have been witness #1 two times, the latter incident really affected me as there was a smashed face and lots of blood involved. I doubt you'll ever forget the incident, but you can get it out of your system.

This is why I have a hard and fast rule. I do not swerve for animals in the roadway.

That's actually taught at driving school over here. Foot off the pedal, lights up, hold the steering wheel really tight and hope for the best.

[dallas]

I will never forget an accident that happened right in front of me. A car was waiting to turn across 2 lanes of traffic. They had their wheels turned, and a car rear ended them and knocked them in front of a car doing 55mph.

The little Honda Civic flew through the air and landed on its side. The mother was in the passengers seat and was thrown out the drivers window and the roof crushed her head. When I got to her she was aking about her two kids. When I told her they were ok, she died.

[TN-Shooter]

Vehicle wrecks can very disturbing. Bodies get tweaked and portioned in ways that will scare a person not used to that type of thing. I applaud you for stopping and checking on them.

[Visionz]

That really sucks, I am sorry to hear that. I have had the misfortune of watching someone pass only once from an accident. I would love to say you forget about it, but you don't. It does give you a finer appreciation for life though. As well as a finer appreciation for any profession that must deal with things like this on a somewhat regular basis.

[Neville]

Thanks for sharing the story. Yes that sucks big time.

Why "swerve" to miss a deer? I'll never understand why people do this. SUV's especially, are prone to rollover.

I was in a rollover accident myself two years ago. It was an offset frontal impact, then a second vehicle hit while the van was at an angle, which sent it into a rollover - 3 times, by eyewitness account. Landed with all 4 tires on the ground. No air bag deployment (they are specifically designed not to activate in an offset impact). I did not "swerve", traffic stopped suddenly, and a car was 50% in my lane and unable to complete his lane change. I believe this was the best possible outcome for this particular collision. The rollover allowed the van's momentum to be drained off without being absorbed directly by other vehicles, for the most part. If the air bag had gone off or if I had not been wearing my seat belt (I never leave the driveway without it!) then we would not be having this conversation. Of course the van was totalled. All the other vehicles were salvageable, no one was injured. I needed a good chiropractor and I had a small cut on my left elbow from driver's side window, which blew out (as did every other piece of glass in the van).

Seat belts save lives. Wearing one certainly saved mine that day. Too bad for these folks, very sad, could have been easily prevented. Sorry you had to spend your vacation with that on your mind, hope you got a chance to let it fade a bit.

[DJH]

I've only moved to miss an obstacle in the road like that once, and it was another human being (not a very smart one however, to be walking in a lane of traffic on a road with bad visibility due to crests and turns.)

Everything would have been fine if I had been in a normal vehicle. Unfortunately, I was in my 1990 300ZX twin turbo with HICAS (rear steering assist) - the Hydraulic HICAS system wasn't as smart as the later electronic units, and due to my steering input thought I was trying to navigate a hairpin. The result put me in a ditch with a mild concussion. I was wearing my seatbelt, but I had the t-tops off and my head hit the center bar hard enough to send my sunglasses about 100 feet from the car. Looking back, I think I was pretty lucky. If I'd had belts like the ones I used to have in my truck (5 point) I likely wouldn't even have been hurt at all. Things could have gone much worse. I probably would make the same choice today however, to "swerve" as it were, for a person. Debris or animals, I'm taking the hit, much as I may not wish to.

I've seen the result of bad decisions + motorcycles on the mountain roads where I used to live (my father was a volunteer firefighter and when there was any kind of accident we would always stop. The motorcycles are the ones that stuck with me.) and it's not something you ever forget.

I hope some good comes of your story, maybe it sinks into some of the people on here (no finger pointing. Seriously, just in general if there are any.) who may be lax about seatbelts & other safety.

[EmbraceTheHate]

That really sucks, I am sorry to hear that. I have had the misfortune of watching someone pass only once from an accident. I would love to say you forget about it, but you don't. It does give you a finer appreciation for life though. As well as a finer appreciation for any profession that must deal with things like this on a somewhat regular basis.

Yes I used to street race a lot I had a 500hp dodge diesel. I used to have 4 people in the truck doing well over 100. Very stupid of me but its outta my blood. I actually just sold the truck a few months ago. God kept me safe on the late nights I was doing double the speed limit.

Firefighters, ems, and police are tough in my book they see this stuff daily.

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[JFlagg]

I tell my wife not to swerve every time an animal crosses the road... Just stay in your lane and take the hit. She is an animal lover and keeps telling me she would rather wreck than hit an animal(even a rabbit or squirrel). I keep having to remind her that she has kids in the backseat to think about too... Some people need a reality check. People over animal any day... They are the "beasts" for a reason.

[TN-Shooter]

Why "swerve" to miss a deer? I'll never understand why people do this. SUV's especially, are prone to rollover.

It's called instinct.

[majorhavoc]

^^^^ This. I have to review accident reports all the time. I see it again and again. People reflexively steer away from danger and over correct.

I've seen some crazy ass accident reconstructions of people who merely drift onto a soft shoulder. A perfectly survivable incident. But they jerk the steering wheel back towards the travel lanes. The over correction leads to a counter over correction and within a few micro seconds, you have a vehicle oscillating wildly back and forth across the travel lanes until it leaves the roadway permanently, collides with another vehicle or flips over.

It's common as dirt and is especially a problem in vehicles with soft suspensions or lots of suspension travel. Pickup trucks are the worst.

[squinty]

If they would of been wearing there seat belts they would all be ok.

Here's the takeaway to that story. Where Wear your seatbelts everybody. Wear them. Wear. Your. Got -dam. Seatbelts. I've refused rides to people who argued about wearing them in my car.

[ais4122]

Lesson Learned: Seatbelts save lives.Most people who get ejected die, end of story.