| Subject: Idiot driver |
Author:
Michael K
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Date Posted: 08:49:41 07/19/07 Thu
Author Host/IP: pD9561374.dip0.t-ipconnect.de/217.86.19.116
I was late for work yesterday morning because of an idiot driver. Not because he did anything to me, directly, but because I had to stop to save his life.
Leaving my town is a road with a lot of hills and curves. If you get stuck behind someone slow, you have about two miles before you get your first opportunity to pass, and that window is a very small one. Beyond that, it about another mile before the road opens up enough to make passing safe.
This morning, I got caught behind a tractor going real slow. In front of me was a Mercedes panel van, followed by a Seat Ibiza, then me. When we hit that small window where you can pass, the van decided to get around the tractor. The guy in the Ibiza decided to follow right on the van's bumper. Me, being an occasionally smart driver, decided to keep my distance so I could more easily see around the tractor later on. As I'm watching these two pass the tractor, I see the van suddenly cut in front of the tractor in an unusually abrupt move. Then, in a metter of a split second that seemed to last a lifetime, I see why the van cut off the tractor so closely and quickly. The van barely missed the semi truck coming toward us. The Ibiza, because of his lack of forward visibility behind the van, didn't see the truck until it was too late. The two collided in dead center head-on crash. I had my brake pedal to the floor because I didn't want to get caught up in this mess, but truck lost control (obviously) and veered into the tractor, still pushing the Ibiza in front of him. The tractor overturned as it went off the road and the truck jackknifed across both lanes.
Once I came to a stop, the "fun" really began. I got out of my car and ran up to the scene to offer any help I could. As I ran up, I could see the tractor driver climbing out of his tractor, the truck driver was moving around a little, but I was scared I was going to find a dead body in the Ibiza. When I approached the Ibiza, the driver (the only occupant) was still alive and making some noise, but he was in very bad shape. I assessed his condition the best I could and determined it was best not to move him. I did end up stopping the bleeding on several very serious wounds and did everything I could to keep the guy conscious until the ambulance showed up.
In the end, the fire department had to cut the Ibiza driver out of the car and he had a lot of serious injuries. He was rushed to the hospital first. The truck driver suffered a messed up leg/ankle (not sure if it was broken, but odds are it was) and some nasty cuts and bruises. The tractor driver was bruised up and appeared to have a broken arm. Both the truck and tractor drivers went to the hospital, but not in as serious condition as the Ibiza driver.
I still don't know who made the call for help, but I was applying first aid for at least 20 minutes. Then, I had to stick around to give my report to the Polezei (I called the Military Police to come out and help me with translating). By the time it was all over, I had to go back home to change out of my bloody uniform and shower. I was over three hours late for work all because of one idiot driver who was too impatient to wait for a safe place to pass a tractor, but instead, had to pass while tailgating a van without any visibility of the hazards in the road ahead of him. I hope he learned his lesson.
For reference, this is a Seat Ibiza:
He's lucky he survived.
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