If you were driving on the freeway and came up upon an accident, what would you do? Get involved? Drive by, more than likely someone has already called 911 and you can't be late for work?

Most accidents I see are already attended. I just say a quick prayer like “please let everyone be ok” and keep moving.

This doesn’t answer the question but it scared the shit out of me.

My friend was driving north on the 5 about 60 miles north of Medford. He was taking me home. The northbound lane was about 40 feet below the southbound and they were separated by a steep bank. We were driving north and I noticed a 18 wheeler that started to look weird as we approached a curve. The cab flipped and the trailer followed. It hit the concrete barrier and slid for about 100 yards.

This scared the fuck out of me.

My point. This scared the fuck out of me.

My other point.. Every trucker on both sections of the Interstate immediately stopped and ran to the guy who flipped his rig. They didn’t pull over. They stopped in the middle of I-5 and ran to help. It was actually amazing to see.

If emergency vehicles aren’t there and people may be hurt you should always stop. Being late for work should not factor into the equation when someone’s life could be on the line.

Yea every accident I’ve ever seen has been attended to, but if it weren’t i would definitely stop and help as I’ve helped cars that were broken down in the middle of the road on many occasions now.

Unless first responders are already on the scene, at a minimum, CALL 911. If they’ve already received the information they will tell you they know about it, so no big deal. But if not you’ve done your good deed for the day. Only stop if you are sure you aren’t creating more of a hazard. If you carry flares in your trunk (you don’t??) pull over so that you can put out flares to warn oncoming traffic. Stay away from the traffic on the side of the of the road. Don’t stand in front of vehicles so that if it gets hit by someone else, you get hit. It happens. Even if you don’t know CPR or first aid, you can tell the 911 operator how many people/cars are involved and the extend of injuries and damage. Call your boss and explain why you’re going to be late.

Well, I must say, A BIG kudos to you all!
And yes, this really did happens to me this morning on my way to work. Besides the parties involved, I was next on scene and first to make the 911 call. I guess, having an ex that is in law enforcement, helped too. I knew what to say as well as what to do also. Hard to believe, but I was the only one to stop. I noticed people looking but no one stopping… That’s sad. I did not care that I was going to be late. To be perfectly honest, it never crossed my mind
until I arrived at work!

Step one: Call 911.

There’s something that is the opposite of the Good Samaritan Effect, where people all pass by assuming someone else is/has helped. When in reality a surprising amount of the time, no has done anything. Don’t let that happen. Its better that there are more calls to 911 than none.

There other thing to consider is the possibility of doing more harm that good. Not only can you get yourself hurt or killed, but you can also do the same to the victim if you don’t know what you’re doing. On top of this, they can sue you if you injure them further.

I’ve helped people many times, from pulling people out of a flipped truck to providing first aid to man who hit a tree. But every case is different and you need to keep your cool and think rationally. Otherwise you’re just contributing to the chaos, which puts everyone at further risk.

My take, followed by a story…
I’m a security supervisor for a contract security firm.(Rent a cop basically)
If it just occurred, and I saw it happen, I stop, witnesses make reports more accurate, and unbiased. If there are people standing around looking like they are waiting, I’ll usually just stop briefly(if possible) and ask if things are ok, if it’s a single vehicle accident, I usually stop to keep them company, since waiting for a tow or police sucks.

I witnessed an “accident” where a car made a quick left turn to get through a light after it turned green so he didn’t have to wait for the cars that were proceeding through the light, a motorcyclist could not see this, as he was in the far right lane, and his view was blocked by a line of SUV’s, so when the light went green, he was already slowing, and accelerated to continue, and the left turning car caused him to rapidly brake and lose control (being a security officer, I’m trained to be constantly aware of my surroundings, hence this next bit) While he was sliding down the road, a vehicle was approaching behind him, and failed to notice, and didn’t slow, as I saw this, I swung out of the lane I was in into the path of the oncoming vehicle. The driver noticed, and slammed on the brakes, but not before hitting me. Better me than the motorcyclist, I say.

Quick thinking! That was an awesome thing you did! My hats off to you! My cousin was kill in a very similar situation. Too bad you weren’t around then.

if it comes down to a vehicle striking me in mine, or a pedestrian, or motorcyclist off their bike, to me the choice is clear, without any hesitation, that split second you used to make your decision could cost someone their life.

I was driving down a dark country road with my daughter in the car, when a small pickup in front of me rolled over because a drunk had clipped his front fender while passing. I wasn’t quite sure what I saw because they were some distance ahead of me. I just saw an odd blur of tail lights. When I got next to it, I saw it was resting on it’s roof. There is no cell signal that far out, so I raced to the nearest store and called 911. I drove back so I could flag down the ambulance when it came. Fortunately the people inside had already crawled out dazed and confused. The truck was on fire, so I helped them to cross the road. When the police got there I told them what I saw. Just then, the drunks from the other car came stumbling up, thinking we were having a campfire! It was very easy to arrest them, as they still had their beers in their hands!

It’s unbelievable how stupid they were!! Luckily, the people in the truck didn’t seem to be hurt too badly. They just had some minor scrapes, but they were taken to the hospital to get checked for any other injuries.