Saw a fatal accident on Monday

[phorsenuf]

It was just horrible.

We were driving home from NH and we were in Virginia. It must have happened less than 5 minutes in front of us. Emergency services hadn't even arrived yet. There were a lot of people that had stopped to help.
It was so hard to go past as all their belongings had been thrown out of the vehicle so the road was littered with car parts and clothes.
It was pretty obvious people had been killed. It really shook my husband and I up.
I looked later on and found out it was a mother and 3 children driving from Michigan. The mother and a 12 year old daughter were killed, the other 2 daughters, 13 and 15 suffered major injuries.
Apparently another driver swerved to avoid a car and hit their Ford Explorer. The driver, the 15 year old girl, then swerved to miss her and rolled the car several times. All 3 girls were wearing seat belts but it seems the mother, who was in the front passenger side, was not.

It was just a heartbreaking scene and it still haunts me.

So very tragic.

 

[pixiefairy]

Oh wow.... to you both and prayers to that family. So sad.

 

[lucyanna girl]

That must have been really hard, sorry.

Penny

 

[TeresaBelle]

Oh I heard about this on the radio...the mother and her girls were going to Va Beach for some kind of sports try outs...field hockey, maybe??

So so sad...

 

[zachnsamsmommy]

It is awful, isn't it? And it stays with you for a very long time. We saw a fatal accident (a family in a van) coming back from Disney once. It too was before medical personal arrived. I still can picture it exactly in my head...and this was 5 years ago. Even my now 9 yr old remembers it...he still hates driving on the interstate.

I am so, so sorry that you had to see that...

 

[LilyWDW]

I'm sorry you had to witness it.

Once on the way to Disney, we noticed a silver sports car swerving and speeding through traffic in the opposite direction. He cut one of his passes too tight and lost control, slamming head on into on the cement sides of an overpass. The engine area ended up about halfway into this tiny car.

One of my professors witnessed a bad one on the way to campus a few years ago. A minivan attempted to cross a 4 lane highway but some how didn't notice the semi truck coming down the hill (speed limit in this area is 60 btw). The semi hit the van and pretty much drove through it. There was really nothing the semi driver could do as the van pulled out with him too close to stop. To not get to graphic, I'll just say that there were pieces in the road that shouldn't have been there.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Horrible thing to witness and to remember.

I was outside in the car once while DH stopped by an acquaintance's house to pick up something. A car was doing a U-turn on a very wide street - the kind of street where everyone makes U-turns because it is so long and to find parking spaces.

A motorcycle was coming down the street at a very slow speed. Unfortunately, as the car was making the U-turn, the motorcyclist was unable to stop and slammed into the side of the car.

This all happened right in front of me as I was sitting in a parked car on the side of the street.

The motorcyclist was not moving and it was a fatal accident. I ran into the house where DH was screaming to call 911. It was too late already and to this day, it still haunts me that someone's son or husband or father was never going home.

He wasn't one of those reckless, speeding guys on a motorcycle that you would shake your head at when they went roaring by you on the highway. He was driving under the limit and wearing all his safety equipment. The car making a U-turn was clearly in the wrong. But he also wasn't speeding and was making a turn I, myself, have made 100 of times in the past on a similar type of street.

Whenever DH jokes about one day getting a motorcycle, I say nope. I saw first hand how through absolutely no fault of his own, how someone died in a low speed impact because he was on the same roads as motor vehicles. I would be a wreak if anyone I loved was on a motorcycle just because of that memory.

 

[disneyfans95]

AFter 15 years as an EMT, it is easy to forget how many people never have to see things like this..

I am sorry for the OP.. Trust me, there are a hundred things I wish I could "unsee"

But in the end, I am glad I have voluneteer this long. There are people that are around now that would not be if not for my crew and their efforts.

 

[ChrizJen]

Oh my! I'm sorry you and your husband had to witness that! That had to have been so scary! I can't even imagine!
We were driving once through Indianapolis and witnessed a state trooper (who was standing on the side of the interstate with a car that he'd pulled over) get struck by a vehicle and thrown into the raveen along-side the interstate. I mean we literally saw the vehicle make contact with him and then his body went flying into the raveen. We did stop because we witnessed the whole thing and were the first people able to stop.
Fortunately, the state trooper only suffered a broken leg and a bunch of bumps and bruises. He was SO lucky!! But that scene still gives me chills.
I don't care who you are. It's life-changing to have to witness something like that. You can see it on TV and it's just not the same. It's all together different when you see it first hand.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Oh my! I'm sorry you and your husband had to witness that! That had to have been so scary! I can't even imagine!
We were driving once through Indianapolis and witnessed a state trooper (who was standing on the side of the interstate with a car that he'd pulled over) get struck by a vehicle and thrown into the raveen along-side the interstate. I mean we literally saw the vehicle make contact with him and then his body went flying into the raveen. We did stop because we witnessed the whole thing and were the first people able to stop.
Fortunately, the state trooper only suffered a broken leg and a bunch of bumps and bruises. He was SO lucky!! But that scene still gives me chills.
I don't care who you are. It's life-changing to have to witness something like that. You can see it on TV and it's just not the same. It's all together different when you see it first hand.

My son is a Louisiana State Trooper and what you describe is one of my biggest fears.

Penny

 

[snapppyd]

I'm sorry you had to see that. I had my first accident this Monday, thank God no one was injured. My car, however, lost most of it's front.

 

[phorsenuf]

Oh I heard about this on the radio...the mother and her girls were going to Va Beach for some kind of sports try outs...field hockey, maybe??

So so sad...

Yes, they were going to field hockey try-outs.

I'm still pretty surprised how I can't stop thinking about it. I've been searching every day for new information. I feel l just have to know how they are.

I hope it's nothing I ever see again in my life.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

 

[TimeforMe]

The driver was only 15 years old? Did she have a driver's license?

 

[LilyWDW]

Oh my! I'm sorry you and your husband had to witness that! That had to have been so scary! I can't even imagine!
We were driving once through Indianapolis and witnessed a state trooper (who was standing on the side of the interstate with a car that he'd pulled over) get struck by a vehicle and thrown into the raveen along-side the interstate. I mean we literally saw the vehicle make contact with him and then his body went flying into the raveen. We did stop because we witnessed the whole thing and were the first people able to stop.
Fortunately, the state trooper only suffered a broken leg and a bunch of bumps and bruises. He was SO lucky!! But that scene still gives me chills.
I don't care who you are. It's life-changing to have to witness something like that. You can see it on TV and it's just not the same. It's all together different when you see it first hand.

A high school friend's uncle was a Wisconsin State Trooper and was killed in a similar accident. He had stopped to help a stranded motorist and was struck by a pick up.

This is why you should always move over for a stopped emergency vehicle (if safe to do so, otherwise slow down at least).

 

[mrodgers]

The driver was only 15 years old? Did she have a driver's license?

Many states you can have a driver's license at 15 or younger. Most states you can get your permit at 15 or even 14, which you would need to be driving with a licensed adult, which I would assume is the case here.

 

[samshane]

How horrible - I am 37 now and I still to this day remember the elderly gentleman I saw dead in his car in a car accident as we drove by when I was only 11. The accident was so recent - paramedics weren't even there yet. He had been hit by a semi.

It has stuck with me all these year...

 

[phorsenuf]

The driver was only 15 years old? Did she have a driver's license?

According to reports she had a valid learners permit.