« it takes its toll to play the happy prole | Main | oh my infidel, you know I'll always wish you well »

lizard

missed it by that much

by lizard at 09:56 PM on November 28, 2001

I was on my way back from a cigarette run, at a stoplight that had just turned green, just beginning to accelerate, when it happened. It was so close I felt as well as heard the impact, and the subsequent shower of shattered pieces of light lenses and trim actually did hit my car, but I am as grateful as I've ever been in my whole life that the 1950-s era beat-up pickup truck did not hit me as it bounced off the car in the lane next to me.

I pulled over and watched as the pickup proceeded brokenly down the street, then followed it, rummaging frantically in my purse for my cell phone. It made the next right, and stopped only when it struck a parked car. Another witness, a woman in an older Ford, stopped her car beside the wrecked truck and appeared to be confronting the men in the truck as they got out and milled around, looking a little confused. The men (two? three?) then took off on foot down the street, with the witness in pursuit. She yelled, does anyone have a cell phone? Call 911! I'm thinking, there are people who don't have cell phones? Apparently. So I found mine, and made the call.

So, I'm on the phone with 911 when a cop car pulls up, it was only a minute or so. I told him that the drivers of the truck went thataway, that they were being followed by a woman, and that there might have been two or three. He asked what they looked like, and I said, ‘Shabby?’. If you ever are the victim of a crime and need a good eyewitness with accurate recollections, you'd better hope it's not me, because it appears I'm really, really bad at it.

The cop took off, and I hung up with 911. I got back in my car and cruised by the scene of the accident itself, looking for the car that had been hit. I didn't look all that thoroughly, but it would appear that they had also fled the scene, unlikely as that would seem from the severity of the impact. I returned to where the truck was parked, and several other witnesses said the car that was hit was a pink Geo Tracker? How could a little bitty Geo take a 30MPH impact from a truck of that magnitude, and drive away?

One of the other witnesses standing around the wrecked truck, nervously applying chapstick to his lips, said he would have followed the guys himself had he not been on probation (unsure what that has to do with anything, possibly the fact he was high as hell, but oh well). I said I would have followed them myself but... (trailing off here, because who wants to admit they're just plain scared of a group of shabby looking hit-and-run drivers?)

From the time I got my very first cell phone, I've always daydreamed that I would happen upon the scene of some accident and provide aid to the victims that bordered on the heroic, all the while on the line to 911 giving calm, accurate, succinct information, perhaps even saving lives. But in reality, it turns out I'm highly underqualified for that role.

comments (14)

you stop saying your not qualified, dammit!! That's just not true. People do weird shit in a crisis situation, and you can never look back on it and dissect it. Hindsight, in this case, is not 20/20 dearie.

Helluva job!!

by hoopty at November 28, 2001 11:02 PM


Naw, you did fine, alerting the police, directing them after the suspects. If you didn't get a good look at them, you didn't, and there's not much you can do about that. And you're definitely not supposed to go chasing after them. Apparently nobody needed any medical assistance, if everyone moved away on their own power. It's not that you weren't up to the task, the tasks you're looking for aren't there.

by space at November 28, 2001 11:28 PM


I've taken those little tests---you know, the one's that test your skills at observing? (look at a pic for 30 seconds and then answer questions about the scene) I totally suck at them. However, don't say you're not qualified! You were there, you had a cell phone and you alerted the proper authorities. Ya done good. :)

by Wendy at November 29, 2001 12:48 AM


What??? You did great...! You stayed at the scene, gave a brief description, and the direction they went. If the cops were worth anything, that was plenty to go on.

Do you know if they nailed them? Assuming it wasn't a stolen truck... their license plate would lead right to one of their doorsteps.

by gOdOfMiScHiEf at November 29, 2001 3:28 AM


It's alright, really... You did all you could have done. Leave the crisis handling and all the accident assessment to the professionals, you know. You really did the best you could have done.

Sorry for not having responded positively earlier... I was under stress. You gotta work once in a while at college, after all... :-P

by chunshek at November 29, 2001 6:23 AM


well, if i had it to do over again (actually, kind of glad i don't, it was pretty awful) i would make a deliberate effort to be more observant, you know, take a deep breath, focus. one of the reasons i felt bad was that i notice & commit to memory all kinds of details all the time, to blog about them later, so i know i'm capable.

by kd at November 29, 2001 11:26 AM


you did good. i'm just glad you weren't hit/hurt!

by bornfamous at November 29, 2001 12:29 PM


yikes. what a crazy scene. i'll just repeat what everyone else said by commenting that you did exactly the right thing. because it's true. and while it might have made for an intriguing post, i am so glad you didn't go chasing after them.

by miss b at November 29, 2001 4:00 PM


I don't know. I think I would have done something. Maybe it was too much Knight Rider and Dukes of Hazzard as a kid, but I imagine that me in a car is no match for shabby drunks on foot. It seems like such an easy fight.

Me: an enclosed, 2000lb hunk of metal able to move at speed in excess of 100mph.

Them: A pair of sloped-foreheads still stumbling from anight of drinking and a recent car-crash.

Okay, okay. I probably wouldn't have done anything either. I'd probably have been so wrapped up in my own little world I wouldn't have even noticed the crash to begin with.

by mg at November 29, 2001 5:49 PM


well, i didn't think following them in the car would work too well, that neighborhood has all kinds of nooks & crannys a drunk can duck into & a car can't follow.

also, 2000 lb cars aren't all that invulnerable -- rocks vs. windshields for instance, rarely works out in the car's favor.

plus, i'm just a big chicken.

by kd at November 29, 2001 7:26 PM


I think you did really good KD I am proud of you! :-)

by Pristine at November 29, 2001 8:18 PM


wow speaking of being proud of someone, thanks MG I lUV my cookies! :-)

by Pristine at November 29, 2001 8:19 PM


Hey, good deed, there. Most people would have just kept on going. Inspecter KD, at your service :)

by say-say at November 30, 2001 11:34 AM


i didn't know you were a narc!

just kiddin kd. i got a few good laughs out of your rendition. i'm also glad that you weren't hit.

by mic at November 30, 2001 3:16 PM