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View Full Version : You can't fix stupid



mark page
12-24-2007, 12:25 PM
A line from a comedian strikes close to home! I guess I need a little reassurance that I didn't do anything wrong in this situation. I'm not feeling REAL guilty but maybe just a tad, but just a LITTLE tad. Let me set the mood and stage for this scenario, reminds me of a Geiko commercial. It was a snowing and blowing day, all streets were iced from freezing rain, visibility was appx 100 ft or less, a day that would best be spent in front of a blazing fireplace....
Well this lady comes on an interstate on-ramp and decides to cut across 3 lanes of traffic (including the ramp she was on). She takes out the car in front of me. I react and decide to take the shoulder and "hill" instead of hitting them. I don't want to risk getting an airbag in the chops if I don't need to. If I had a second more reaction time I would have turned opposite and would have been able to go around them. Now I'm sitting on the side of the hill off the shoulder of the road, the car behind me in the same situation. Now this turns into a four car mishap but only the front two cars collided. No contact from the car behind me or my car. We're just stuck on the shoulder/hill. I figure I can back out of the situation since my car is all wheel drive, but I can't due to the vehicle behind me. Here is where it gets interesting. The lady that caused the accident keeps standing in the middle of the danged highway. All other cars keep skidding to avoid her heading towards me and car#4. This went on for about an hour. I tell this lady multiple times, from nice to naughty, to haul her butt from the middle of the highway. She's going to get killed or worse yet get the rest of us killed. No dice, she's still standing in the middle of the interstate. Car #4 was just barely stuck bad enough I couldn't physically push him back on the highway. Conversations between me and car#4 include such things as "knocking her out, tying her up, etc and put her back in her car, to save her life, and ours too". I decide that I'm going to drive further down the hill and around them and get the heck out of here. Car#4 had a tow cable, so I told him I'd come back around the "loop" and pull him back out. I just didn't want to risk damaging my car such as tearing off the front spoiler, air dam, etc. Well I made it back out on the highway, drive the loop back around to where I was, and pull car#4 back out on the highway. Everyone's free except the accident victims car#1 & 2. I just lost all the plastic splash shields under my car, but no damage otherwise. This lady asks in a sarcastic type of way, that "what about me, are you just going to leave us here". I check on lady in car#2 and she's ok, both cars can run but just can't drive, they have heat and warmth, car#2 driver did not want to leave her car. At this point I tell the accident lady that "yes I'm leaving her butt here and that she is involved in an accident and car is undriveable, but I in fact was not involved in an accident and neither was car#4. We are out of here". I again tell her not to stand in the middle of the highway and leave. I figured I'd hear about her getting run over on the news but didn't. Now multiply the stupid factor of this lady by about ten times from what I've typed and you might have the correct scenario. I was on my way to work, and I just have to justify what I did was correct, or should I have stayed till the tow trucks arrived, or the highway patrol. I did give all my info to car#2 driver just in case she needed a witness, but with the bad weather situation, it will most likely be a no fault accident.

M Toupin
12-24-2007, 1:57 PM
The only thing you did wrong that I can see Mark is you kept telling her to get out of the road... Some folks really do need to be removed from the gene pool. I've investigated more accidents than I can count, the stupidity of some folks really is limitless. Just when I thought I'd seen it all something even better comes along. Some folks can't be helped, once you figure out they're in that group, don't waste your time trying.

Mike

Nancy Laird
12-24-2007, 2:01 PM
Seems to me that you should have picked up the idiot - bodily - and removed her from the middle of the road, plunked her down in her car, and told her very strongly, loudly, and in her face to STAY PUT!! She just might have gotten the message---but given the scenario you've described, I sort of doubt it. Like you said, Mark, you can't fix stupid.

Nancy

Randal Stevenson
12-24-2007, 2:40 PM
Too bad you didn't ask that lady to call you with the report number. I would have used it to both make my report to the officer on scene, and contact the state about a non safe driver.

Jon Lanier
12-24-2007, 2:53 PM
You can't fix stupid, but you sure can have a lot of fun with them. :p

Al Willits
12-25-2007, 10:32 AM
You pick that lady up and she'll have your butt in court, you did fine.

I doubt I'd have been that persistent, but I have no tolerance for stupidity on the roadways, there are no accidents, there are driver mistakes, she wants to stand in the middle of the road the only one I'd feel sorry for is the poor driver who run into her.

If nature would only weed out the stupid with out involving the rest...

Al

David G Baker
12-25-2007, 11:48 PM
Al,
Nature does a fair job of weeding out quite a few "stupids". Ever read the Darwin Annual Awards?

Cliff Rohrabacher
12-26-2007, 11:15 AM
Excitement and highways are a poor combination.