Saw a Fatality Today...

hrtrip · 22-08-2006, 12:32 AM

Driving back to a mates places today down Doncaster Rd, Doncaster (VIC) at about 3:30ish this afternoon (monday) and a cop car came flying past us - in a real big rush!! Anyway there was a fair bit of traffic about and it suddenly slowed up real bad. At this point i was slowing down and my mate and I were wondering what the hell was goign on - if there was a guy speeding or whatever. So we see the cop car about 50 metres down the road and there is a fairly substantial crowd of people looking down at something. We get closer only to see a VN absolutely smashed. Roof was bent in hardcore and i mean BENT in. Get a little closer and realise the guy is still in the car still sitting in his seat which was in the back seat... his seat had been pushed so far back that he was still sitting in it but in the back! A bit of blood trickling down his head, obviously knocked out if not dead. We see 2 fire trucks coming from wither direction - one on the wrong side of the road. At this stage my mate and I are like what the ******, how did this guy manage to get himself into this mess on a straight 3 lane road. I Dropped my mate back and went to have another sticky beak about 10 minutes later. By this time there were 3 fire trucks 4 police cars and 2 ambulances, the fire trucks had just put away 2 of the "jaws of life". Then i saw the unfortunate soul on a stretcher... with a white blanket over him.

Pretty terrifying stuff, not what I really wanted to see on my way home. Makes me think back to all the stupid stuff I have done in my car and realise how lucky I have been - may he rest in peace

HRT R.I.P

xr8gal · 22-08-2006, 12:45 AM

Thats not good to witness at all, mate...

Hope ya dont have any problems after viewing nasty stuff like that...

Make sure ya talk it out if ya start suffering...

Good luck to ya... and condolences to the guys family and friends..

robbo_23 · 22-08-2006, 12:51 AM

Yep nothing like witnessing a scary event to make you realise you are human. It definitely changes your outlook on driving. I can vouch for it.

Bobman · 22-08-2006, 03:16 AM

I've witnessed fatalities before and it's not something you want to be at or see.

One sticks to mind in Cheltenham where a firefighter also collapsed.

Was the Doncaster Road Accident a confirmed fatality? Had not seen anything on the media about it tonight, but I did hear a traffic report from earlier in the afternoon to avoid the area.

Really makes you feel that the motor vehicle is a tool not to be mistreated.

Falcon_Phill · 22-08-2006, 06:33 AM

You said you didnt really want to see it on your way home, so whyd you go back for a sticky beak??

Full Spectrum · 22-08-2006, 06:39 AM

Take some great advice, If you see anything like that again don't look or go back. You don't want that memory in your head forever.

LUXO_8 · 22-08-2006, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlickHolden

Take some great advice, If you see anything like that again don't look or go back. You don't want that memory in your head forever.

agreed......

LTDHO · 22-08-2006, 07:17 AM

It's terrible stuff.
My condolences to their family.

I feel sorry for the attending emergency crew.

agony · 22-08-2006, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon_Phill

You said you didnt really want to see it on your way home, so whyd you go back for a sticky beak??

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlickHolden

Take some great advice, If you see anything like that again don't look or go back. You don't want that memory in your head forever.

Thats one of the problem with human beings, they all want to see and know whats going on until they realise its something nasty then wish they hadn't.
Condolences to the family and friends.

VSSII · 22-08-2006, 09:05 AM

Sad thing is this kind of thing is played out every day and every day people are going home seeing what was seen here. It's not uncommon at all. Wish it was..

AWD Chaser · 22-08-2006, 09:32 AM

Thats too bad for the driver and yourself.

Please, if you do have any problems with it, talk to someone... anyone.

As minor as people might think these things are, seeing death, even a complete stranger, can reak havoc on the human mind. The worst thing you can do is keep playing it through your head..... Seek support if you need it....

mitch_lx · 22-08-2006, 09:37 AM

Yeah these sorts of things really do shake you up and make you feel sick to the stomach..

I used to live in Mexico City, with around 22 million inhabitants, about 10% of them obbey road rules and use seat belts, the others dont.

As a result i have seen a little girl smash through the front windscreen and land head first in the gutter RIP :( poor little thing.

And was behind a car one day when it randomly swerved off the road and hit a tree. the car was white, there was blood all down the side of the car and his bloody head was sitting in the middle of the road, rest of him was in the car still :( RIP

86XFFairmont · 22-08-2006, 09:56 AM

You tend to get used to it if u see it over time as thats kinda what im looking at geting into doin smash trucks, as u see it all the time and alot worse than this bloke discribed in doncastor all tho its bad there is worse , alot worse so be carefull pplz.

Homer1 · 22-08-2006, 10:44 AM

Damn, thats bad. which part of Doncaster Rd? I travel down that rd often but fortunately not yesterday.

4.9 EF Futura · 22-08-2006, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agony

Thats one of the problem with human beings, they all want to see and know whats going on until they realise its something nasty then wish they hadn't.
Condolences to the family and friends.

Part of our nature hey... I think most people probably would have done the same.

Sorry to have read this HRT. Saw some horrific fatalaties living next to the south eastern freeway when i was younger - and the guys here are right... if it starts to bother you, you really need to tell someone - immediately.

Good luck and stay safe.

Let's all spare a thought for the emergency crews who live with scenes like this - day in, day out.

xr8man83 · 22-08-2006, 11:22 AM

yea not good mate ive seen a bit of that stuff as well but do yourself a favour and any friends or family at the accient and try not to keep driving past for a sticky beak it wouldnt be nice for them and its not good for you to be looking at that stuff

Smoked · 22-08-2006, 01:59 PM

Sorry to hear, mate. I caught a glimpse of this yesterday, i went past whilst the guy was still in the car. I hope your not hurting to bad. If you are, talk to people.

drcook · 23-08-2006, 01:24 PM

personally i think these events need to be shown to Learner & Provisional-(professional?) licence holders to remind them there not great drivers and that this can happen to them.

Bud Bud · 23-08-2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcook

personally i think these events need to be shown to Learner & Provisional-(professional?) licence holders to remind them there not great drivers and that this can happen to them.

Best suggestion yet. When I was a kid (1970’s) just before I got my licence, they screened a doco on major accidents and fatalities in Australia, made up from real police footage on national TV (channel Nine I think). It had a profound effect on me right when it counted. It was called "You just don’t realize".

There was one scene I will never forget (the same as I will never forget the accident scene that I have already described on another recent post) where a young semi conscious man caught in his car (an FB or EK Holden I think) after a head on, screaming out "give me room man give me room", after his blood stained arm was trailing out of the front drivers side door.

This was a truly graphic doco and actually shocked the nation at the time. The focus was on youth excessive speed and alcohol related accidents.

Shocking stuff

Is it time to put together another “no holding back” doco today? Would any body pay attention now?

This thread may need to merge with the other titled "For God's sake, drive safely"

XRchic · 23-08-2006, 02:01 PM

Poor bloke and his family. Such a shame to see a life ended that way, even if it was in stupidity. Could have been someone else's fault too, you just dont know what happened.

I used to work in a large public hospital emergency dept and sometimes went out with the emergency crew here and there. Some of the stuff I saw was horrific and probably not comprehensible to most people who have not actually SEEN that sort of thing. You very quickly learn how even a very small mistake or incorrect split second judgement can wind up with very serious consequences - and how that can affect other innocent people too - the person who somehow causes an accident is not always the one who is maimed, suffers or dies horrifically.

The other thing that will always stay with me from those days is the disproportionate amount of horrific accidents I have seen involving motor cycles, in relation to their percentage on the road compared to cars. Human being on a motorbike with no protective metal shell or airbags, flying into large metal objects at speed never comes out well... and it takes a lot less speed and mistakes to cause a lot more human damage on bikes.

I guess it is just a reminder to be careful, for our sakes, and others who we dont even know. Pity the speed camera revenue could not be directed at preventing those kinds of accidents, where outright speed is NOT a factor and which is more common. Speed cameras, in my experience, do NOT save lives because there are too many other factors in an accident - namely lack of skill, lack of experience, tiredness, not understanding road rules (ie changing lanes) and just plain mistakes which cannot be prevented.

I think Jeremy said it on Top Gear the other night, or something like it: The primary flaw of the car is the organic thing behind the wheel... me!

drcook · 23-08-2006, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bud Bud

Is it time to put together another “no holding back” doco today? Would any body pay attention now?

its not the fact people wouldn't pay attention, but to get the video through todays beurocratic red tape, get approval from the board of film & literature (which would probably force all the "shocking" material be removed or pixilated, or face an 'R' rating), then through the education board, blah, blah, blah...
by the time it got to who its intended for youd have a video full of blurry, pixilated images from 500 metres away and music (instead of screams) playing in the background.
then some do gooder will say the film is giving the kids nightmares and they shouldnt be exposed to such horific scenes, need to see a councilor, blah, blah, blah....

rant over.

:

Bud Bud · 23-08-2006, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcook

its not the fact people wouldn't pay attention, but to get the video through todays beurocratic red tape, get approval from the board of film & literature (which would probably force all the "shocking" material be removed or pixilated, or face an 'R' rating), then through the education board, blah, blah, blah...
by the time it got to who its intended for youd have a video full of blurry, pixilated images from 500 metres away and music (instead of screams) playing in the background.
then some do gooder will say the film is giving the kids nightmares and they shouldnt be exposed to such horific scenes, need to see a councilor, blah, blah, blah....

rant over.

:

You are right, those days are gone. However there was a feeling that the media had gone too far back then as well, and let me tell you, they showed everything. Believe me it was shocking, probably even by today’s standards. Worked for me!

Can anyone else here remember this Doco?

Ryan · 23-08-2006, 03:24 PM

Poor guy. :(

Such a shame and like XRchic said, even if it was due to stupidity, no one deserves to die like that.

max · 23-08-2006, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan

Poor guy. :(

Such a shame and like XRchic said, even if it was due to stupidity, no one deserves to die like that.

The horrific sights over the years I have seen worst is a little girl disfigured and dead (I will not go into the anatomy/medical detail) in the back of a family sedan which skidded, crashed into another vehicle on enroute to holidays, personal effects strewn all over road. The 'accident' was without a doubt someone's stupidity and yes, no one deserves to die like that. The sight is burned into my mind like a cheap plasma screen. Road crashes are my No.1 phobia forever.

woofy · 23-08-2006, 07:45 PM

if you think thats bad try and be an ambulance officer were you see them all the time
not good stuff

NA XR6 · 23-08-2006, 07:51 PM

Nobody really understands how fragile the human body is

VSSII · 23-08-2006, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NA XR6

Nobody really understands how fragile the human body is

I'll bet the police and ambo's who's job it is to attend these scenes then give the dreaded death message do!

RG · 23-08-2006, 08:10 PM

Make sure that you talk to someone about it if you start continually think about it, I made the mistake of not talking to anyone about a fatality that i was involved in (train accident several yers ago) and it tends to stick with you.

Aeron · 23-08-2006, 08:20 PM

Mate, its not a nice thing to see. Easter Monday this year, I came across a triple fatality where a WRX had hit a Kingswood head-on. I was the 2nd car to stop for help. I ran to the WRX to see if they were ok but 2 of the 3 in the car were dead. In the other car the elderly lady driver was also dead. The images of the dead bodies in the cars still hornts me. If you need to chat, send me a PM mate. Don’t be afraid to seek help.

EB_5.0_WAGON · 23-08-2006, 08:47 PM

As a tow truck driver for 2 years i saw mainly the aftermath of fatal accident but a couple i had to go to i still remember quite vividly.
One was a commodore ss50 ute which hit a corolla directly in the drivers door at about 90kms without braking ( corolla pulled out across major road) and the driver was still in the car when we arrived. Not a nice sight.

After that i decided i had enough of scraping dead cars off the road and moved to QLD and within 3 months i basically watched a 15yr old girl get hit and killed. and to this day i can still hear the ambo guy on the fone ask me if she had a pulse and could we do CPR which we couldnt( i wont go into why)

BUT LIKE OTHERS HAVE SAID IF YOU KEEP THINKING ABOUT IT OR YOU WAKE UP FROM DREAMING ABOUT IT THEN YOU NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE, ANYONE IT DONT HAVE TO BE A SHRINK AS THIS WAS HOW I DEALT WITH THE SIGHTS I HAVE SEEN.