What to do when you see a car accident

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Hi Everyone,

I was driving on a high way today and on the right, a school bus was pulled over to the side and on the left there was a car and 2 fire trucks in the ditch. My first though was to cross myself, then I pulled over to the right, waited until there were no cars, got out and screamed to the police ‘Please, I just need to know if anyone was hurt’. When he screamed ‘no’, I got back in my car and left. Honestly, I would not have been able to sleep had I not done that. I would have worried that I carelessly drove by without finding out. And admittedly, there would be nothing practical to do but I could pray (which in my mind would be very powerful)

When I told a friend I stopped, she immediately said ‘Don’t ever do that, You do not know CPR and should not be touching anyone. All you did was interupt traffic’

Well… Silly me said ‘I could pray’ but there remembered I was talking to someone who has no use for religion.

Honestly, I felt a bit annoyed because this person does not know me well enough to know if I have CPR training or not, nor was she there to see there was not that much traffic and I made sure I did not dsiturb any vehicles. Lastly, I can’t help but think if I was in a car accident and people didn’t stop to pray, I would be angry so I treated others the way I wanted to be treated.

So question is ‘how do others handle these situations’

CM
 
I would not try to pull over and bother the first responders. Your question almost sounds as though you could be a doctor or another medical professional. And, in getting over to the side of the road, YOU might have caused or had an accident yourself. I would simply pray in that situation.

Now, if you actually witnessed the accident happening, you’d need to stop and see if you could help. You could call 911, at least, and try to keep people from further injuring themselves. A good reason to learn CPR and basic first aid, but the main thing is having a working cell phone and being able to stay calm enough to give the dispatchers information.
 
We used to live just off a main road near a town center where the hospital, fire department, and police department were. Every time we heard sirens, we would cross ourselves and pray a Hail Mary–my 15-month-old picked up on this and would do it even when the sirens were on tv 🙂

So when we see an accident, we drive on through and say a Hail Mary, maybe more if things look bad.

If we see an accident occur, or come across it shortly after, I evaluate to see if it looks like things are under control or if they need help. If the police or fire department is already there, I don’t stop, because they know what they are doing.

I also try hard not to look if the police, etc, are there, because I think that people should have their privacy, not to mention that looking can slow down traffic and sometimes even cause another accident. I just pray and keep going.
 
cmscms said:
Hi Everyone,

I was driving on a high way today and on the right, a school bus was pulled over to the side and on the left there was a car and 2 fire trucks in the ditch. My first though was to cross myself, then I pulled over to the right, waited until there were no cars, got out and screamed to the police ‘Please, I just need to know if anyone was hurt’. When he screamed ‘no’, I got back in my car and left. Honestly, I would not have been able to sleep had I not done that. I would have worried that I carelessly drove by without finding out. And admittedly, there would be nothing practical to do but I could pray (which in my mind would be very powerful)

When I told a friend I stopped, she immediately said ‘Don’t ever do that, You do not know CPR and should not be touching anyone. All you did was interupt traffic’

Well… Silly me said ‘I could pray’ but there remembered I was talking to someone who has no use for religion.

Honestly, I felt a bit annoyed because this person does not know me well enough to know if I have CPR training or not, nor was she there to see there was not that much traffic and I made sure I did not dsiturb any vehicles. Lastly, I can’t help but think if I was in a car accident and people didn’t stop to pray, I would be angry so I treated others the way I wanted to be treated.

So question is ‘how do others handle these situations’

CM
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I agree with your friend, it’s a liability issue, just keep on driving. If a passing by driver is an EMT or a doctor and if there is no one else on scene, I believe they are REQUIRED to stop and render aid.
 
If you live in the US, I believe ALL states have Good Samaritan laws, to protect those who would stop to render aid in the case of a life-threatening situation. However, if first responders are already on the scene, you may be doing more damage than good. Continue on, as traffic permits, if you already see the emergency responders there.

If you are in a position to render aid, and there are no emergency responders on the scene, pull your car over completely off the road, turn OFF your ignition and set the parking brake, turn on YOUR emergency flashers, and ensure you are visible to other motorists by wearing light or brightly colored clothing. Extinguish any smoking materials you may have before approaching the wreck in the event that fuel is leaking. Assess the scene for hazards before approaching it, and avoid entering a wrecked vehicle. Call for help before attempting to render assistance. If you can safely do so, reach into the car and turn off the ignition. Notice any landmarks or mileage markers to be prepared to give the dispatcher the location.

I want to comment on this as well: If you do NOT see emergency responders there but instead only hear the approach of sirens, remain ON the scene until real help arrives. Don’t assume, in other words, that those vehicles are heading for the accident scene that you are at. They may be heading to another emergency.
 
P.S. cmscms, you don’t have to STOP to pray. You could be on the other side of the world, find out about an accident, pray and your prayers would be just as effective as the prayers said by anyone there on the scene of the accident. God is not limited by time or space so please don’t worry about actually STOPPING to pray on the spot.

The reason I wanted to emphasize that is that your original post mentioned that you would want others to stop and pray for you if you were in an accident. They might not stop, but I’m sure that others would pray for you, as you would for others, maybe some would continue to pray for you whenever they thought of you all that day.

👍
 
You could say a silent prayer for the people involved as well as the people responding to the accident. If you see an accident and no one is there to help yet, obviously call 911, but there is no need for you to stop, get out of your car and ask the emergency responders any questions. Even if you had good intentions, they probably just thought you were some super nosy person! 😛
 
St_Francis said:
We used to live just off a main road near a town center where the hospital, fire department, and police department were. Every time we heard sirens, we would cross ourselves and pray a Hail Mary–my 15-month-old picked up on this and would do it even when the sirens were on tv 🙂

So when we see an accident, we drive on through and say a Hail Mary, maybe more if things look bad.

If we see an accident occur, or come across it shortly after, I evaluate to see if it looks like things are under control or if they need help. If the police or fire department is already there, I don’t stop, because they know what they are doing.

I also try hard not to look if the police, etc, are there, because I think that people should have their privacy, not to mention that looking can slow down traffic and sometimes even cause another accident. I just pray and keep going.
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👍…I always pray whenever I hear sirens. I usually can’t avoid crying, either…dear friends of mine have been killed in car accidents; whoever that siren is for, no doubt they also are dear to somebody.

I think that’s a good point, too, about trying not to rubberneck if the police are already there.
 
Thanks everyone. I guess if truth be known, I am a relatively new car owner and this is the first time I saw an accident while being alone in a car. I guess in the future I will know how to react
 
I’m on the road a lot and have witnessed plenty of accidents. I am CPR certified and know some basic first aid. If the first responders are on site, I just keep going. If not, I stop and immediately to assess the situation, basically making sure nobody is injured in a manner that requires immediate assistance. I then call the appropriate emergency services. By the time all of this occurs, there are often first responders on site, at which point I just back off and let them do their jobs. I’ll stick around for the cops to come to see if they need a witness statement.
 
I’m a nurse and have stopped at several accidents and helped, but only because I witnessed the accidents and was the first medical person there.

If I pass an accident and I see there is a police car or a fire truck, or EMS is there, I drive by and pray for anyone who was hurt or frightened by the accident. I also pray for the hands and minds of the responders to help those who need medical care.
 
If emergency services are all ready on the scene, then please keep moving! My brother was with the highway patrol and he told me the biggest problem at an accident scene was the “looky-loos” who slowed down or stopped and tried to help. If the accident just happened then you should stop and see what you can do to help, after calling for help.
 
In our state if you see emergency services at a site you have to drive into the lane away from the situation and pass by. Too many emergency services personnel have been hurt or killed and accidents have been caused by people in cars who want to take a look at what is happening.
 
I don’t think you should have stopped because there were already medical people there. If there was no one on the scene and you are able to provide some help, then it would be right to stop and try to help. However, since there were already professionals on the scene, you probably were just distracting them from their jobs.
 
Joannm said:
In our state if you see emergency services at a site you have to drive into the lane away from the situation and pass by. Too many emergency services personnel have been hurt or killed and accidents have been caused by people in cars who want to take a look at what is happening.
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Yes, this is for my state too. Traffic just needs to keep going, but you can and should say a prayer for the people involved, as well as the first responders.
 
cmscms said:
Hi Everyone,

I was driving on a high way today and on the right, a school bus was pulled over to the side and on the left there was a car and 2 fire trucks in the ditch. My first though was to cross myself, then I pulled over to the right, waited until there were no cars, got out and screamed to the police ‘Please, I just need to know if anyone was hurt’. When he screamed ‘no’, I got back in my car and left. Honestly, I would not have been able to sleep had I not done that. I would have worried that I carelessly drove by without finding out. And admittedly, there would be nothing practical to do but I could pray (which in my mind would be very powerful)

When I told a friend I stopped, she immediately said ‘Don’t ever do that, You do not know CPR and should not be touching anyone. All you did was interupt traffic’

Well… Silly me said ‘I could pray’ but there remembered I was talking to someone who has no use for religion.

Honestly, I felt a bit annoyed because this person does not know me well enough to know if I have CPR training or not, nor was she there to see there was not that much traffic and I made sure I did not dsiturb any vehicles. Lastly, I can’t help but think if I was in a car accident and people didn’t stop to pray, I would be angry so I treated others the way I wanted to be treated.

So question is ‘how do others handle these situations’

CM
Click to expand...
As others have said, never, ever stop and find out if there is anyone hurt. It is of no practical (or even spiritual) use, because even if you don’t know if anyone is hurt, you just pray for the people involved in it and for the good health of any hurt people if there are any.
 
If others are already there, I’d keep driving. I can say a short prayer in the car, and more when I have the chance later, but I wouldn’t stop traffic to do so.

If there was no one else already there, I’d pull over (we have a lane where you can pull over without disturbing other drivers) and see what I can do.

I do have CPR and first aid training, although I am not a professional, and even if I didn’t, you never know if the person needs an ambulance, and maybe can’t make the call (isn’t able, doesn’t have a phone, etc.), or even if you can just help someone calm down it helps.
At least that was intro in our training, that first aid starts the minute the person knows he or she is not alone, even if all you can do is hold someone’s hand.

It’s ridiculous, many people would pull over for a dog, but not a person.
I’d never keep driving if either needed my help.

Even if the car just breaks down, you can offer to call someone for them or take them somewhere.

But I am not in the US and there aren’t many lawsuits in such cases. For now at least.
 
I’m a paramedic and have stopped at a couple of accidents to help before fire/EMS arrived. If the damage to the vehicles looks minor, the cars are out of traffic and someone is already on their cell phone, I keep driving and say a prayer. If not, I would stop and offer help. If fire/EMS are already on scene, I move over as far as possible from the accident, say a prayer for the people who are hurt and for the responders, and keep driving. The ONLY time I would stop if fire/EMS is on scene is if I saw that my husband was involved in an accident. Then I would identify myself as his wife, ask what hospital he’s being taken to, and answer any medical questions about him that he is unable to provide (say, if he’s unconscious). Then I would pray while driving to the hospital to meet him.
cmscms said:
Lastly, I can’t help but think if I was in a car accident and people didn’t stop to pray, I would be angry.
Click to expand...
Other drivers are praying for you, even if they don’t stop. Also, most fire fighters, EMTs/paramedics, and law enforcement officers (even the non-religious ones) say some sort of prayer (consciously or unconsciously) when someone is hurt - especially if it’s really bad.
 
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