Accident Response. Did I do the right thing?

[Don Radvan]

Last night a pickup rolled into a ditch near my house and through our fence. I was just about to go to sleep when it happened. At the sound of crunching metal, I jumped out of bed, grabbed a flashlight and went to see if there was any injuries. Turns out the guy only had a busted finger. We live in a rural area and the road is very dark and has a 40mph speed limit but people tend to drive much faster than that. My wife was angry that I went out into the dark to help a stranger and put my own life at risk and should have just held back and let the police handle it (they came along 15 minutes later after the guy left with a buddy to hospital). Do I have the moral high ground or do I deservedly ought to be in the dog house? I know it doesn’t matter if I am right or wrong because “the wife is always right” but still…

Topic

[Bryan Endres]

I’ve witnessed one accident in my life, and it was a really bad one. Nobody was injured, but I did stop to help and make sure everybody was ok. I believe that I should help in such a situation, unless paramedics or police have already arrived on the scene. I called 911 and when everybody was out and walking around OK I left because other people had stopped that had witnessed the accident as well and said they would stay. i can say you did the right thing, and if you’re out in a rural area in the ditch you’re not in that much danger unless accidents happen there frequently. If they do then there should be a patrol on duty to control that situation. I’m glad it sounds like the other guy is OK.

[Mike]

random, of course you did the right thing. The accident ended up on your property and you went to see if anyone needed help.

You’d be right to feel disappointed with yourself if you had done anything less.

[Don Radvan]

Thanks. Just looking for some male confirmation… haha… It was amazing that the guy walked away as the truck was totalled in the roll. We have had several deer collisions where we live and it usually ends up with a broken headlight and a dead deer so I rarely bother myself as its just too dangerous in the dark with cars going along at 60mph or more but crunching metal is another thing. It took 2 squad cars to stop traffic and 2 tow trucks to get the vehicle out of the ditch. At one point one of the drivers of a passing car shouted at the tow truck driver for holding up traffic. I just don’t understand some people.

[Bill Earle]

Absolutely, you did the right thing!!!
Your wife’s response (no intent to bad-mouth her) is illustrative of two things…(1) the vast majority of people being turned into “herd animals” that sit passively waiting for big brother to take care of them and (2) the basic instinct of females to prevent harm to their male providers/counterparts.
We are losing our sense of community and individual involvement in that community in favor of the collective which, ironically, is run by power and control predators.
A couple of other points…she wouldn’t respect/like you much if you stopped behaving like a “man” and suppose that crunching metal was just the precursor to something worse that would endanger the entire household (fire, drunks, druggies, etc.) that your quick action could prevent.
Instead of berating you, maybe she should have gone out to the “front porch” (with a big gun?) to be your backup.

[zero]

Heck ya, you did the right thing. You did the right thing as a human being, a citizen, a member of society.

Seriously all the male bravado aside, how would your wife or anyone else feel if the situation were reversed? You were the one sitting in your car rolled over and nobody helped you, all the while your wife is sitting at home wondering where you are.

[Brian Compton]

You did the right thing as a first responder…you at minimum at least went out to see what happened, Luckily the incident was mild and you didn’t have a family in a burning minivan or something. I have seen video’s of people walking by folks that are incapacitated and instead of helping they just walk by or even stop to take a picture and DON’T HELP…insanity I know but there are people out there that will not help.

Kudo’s to you for at least stepping up to the plate and investigating and helping!

[Author]

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