7/23/2002: Potatoes on Tokyo highway

[joquarky]

I get a small case of self-righteousness when I intentionally focus my vision forward and couldn't even say what color the cars were. Then I get right on the ass of the person in front of me who is still gawking like a fucking moron in the hopes of getting a glimpse of a dented door or maybe -- oooh! -- a broken headlight, hoping that maybe he'll realize he's driving 45 MPH below the speed limit, but that hasn't worked for me so far.

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A really really bad accident (offset head-on collision) happened in front of my house a few years ago. At the time, I lived in a rural area, and it was dark (very dark). My family came out to rescue and support four victims until the emergency units arrived. A young mother and her infant in one car, and two young men in the other. The mother's car was on fire, which we extinguished. My dad got the infant out, but the drivers of both cars were stuck. Both drivers died on the scene, the passengers survived. I stood there holding a floodlight for an hour as the emergency team tried to save her. I watched her die right there in front of me. The last thing I remember hearing from the mother was "Is my baby ok?".
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[shudder] It haunts me to this day.
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Rubberneckers make me furious. If they want to see this kind of thing, they should join/volunteer for the EMT, otherwise they should respect the privacy of the accident victims, and avoid slowing down to gawk.