Why aren''t there more car accidents?

[treefrog]

Just need to vent and write out some frustrations...

Are people that oblivious when they''re driving (at night too) that they don''t notice an ambulance is behind them with strobe lights and sirens on?

I''ll skip the details but let''s just say construction accident, lots of blood, table saw. I had about a 45 minute drive into a specialty hand trauma center in Baltimore. I can see maybe not seeing my lights during the day but this was at night. During the drive, I had a ton of drivers that took several miles to pull over for me. Ok... a good 5 - 10... took 3 - 5 miles to pull over. Even on I-95 where there are like 5 lanes. Wide 8'' shoulder most the way. I''ve found that some people tend to wait until you''re very close to pull over but in reality, if you see an emergency vehicle behind you, we''ve probably already had to slow down for you and it''s unsafe for us to get too close to a vehicle in front of us. Waiting for us to get right up to another just won''t happen - drivers are too unpredictable and some will freeze up and stop right there. Three miles... at night, with sirens and a very loud air horn. How in the world can people not know??? Aaaaaargh!!!!!!!

Ok, I feel better. Thanks!

Treefrog

 

[kenny]

Morons drive with their stereos blaring, headphones on, their mind is absorbed on cellphone call with their bluetooth stuck in their ear.

I think fire trucks and ambulances should have lasers that vaporize these knobheads.

So are you the person who was injured on a table saw?
If so, I hope you're going to be okay.

 

[lightningbug]

Were you the injured person, or the driver? Either way, you have my support!

But seriously -- I don''t know why people are not more respectful of emergency vehicles. I grew up in a small town and was taught to pull over and stop immediately (or to move over and slow down if on the highway). But when I got out into "the real world" I was amazed at how many people just keep right on driving when ambulances are trying to pass...like nothing special is happening! They might kind of scoot over a couple feet and slow down 5mph, but they don''t get OUT OF THE WAY, which is the whole point. Makes no sense.

 

[treefrog]

I was the ambulance driver, not the patient. Time is pretty critical in some cases. Routine calls don''t get lights and sirens so it''s not like we abuse them and people have become complacent. People get lost in their world, I guess. Being in a somewhat rural area, we sometimes have long commutes to trauma and specialty centers. Tissue dies fairly fast without oxygen and I really needed to get him to the hospital quickly for his best chances of using his hand again. I hope I did good enough.

Thanks for the support and for letting me vent.

Treefrog

 

[HVVS]

Hit up the local newspaper to do a feature on how to behave if you see an ambulance. Seriously. If you can round up more drivers with similar stories to tell, get a few ER nurses and MDs to speak, etc., it might fly.

 

[tigian]

It is so frustrating to see the obliviousness of drivers. I just wonder how they would feel if they were waiting for the emergency vehicle for themselves or a loved one. If it''s frustrating for me( just a person on the road), I can imagine how crazy it would be to be the emergency workers trying to get to the scene.

 

[packrat]

Oblivious is the perfect word for it. I thought I was going to be witness to an accident last month between an ambulance and a van not paying attention. The ambulance driver did some kind of NASCAR evasive move and the van driver had no clue. Idiots. And then I watched a bunch of people turn their blinkers on so they could turn around and follow the ambulance. It''s amazing the amount of people who drive like they have blinders on-the windows and mirrors are there to serve a purpose.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I find it frustrating too -I wish more drivers could be considerate - once upon a time it was me in an ambulance and it really could be anyone at any time

 

[lliang_chi]

Treefrog, hope your patient got there in time, but I totally know what you''re talking about. Whenever I even hear a siren, I always slow down and look all around me to see where it''s coming from. Sometimes the drivers get mad that I''m slowing down (not stopping in the middle of the street, mind you, but just slow to move on a green light, or just take my foot of the gas if I"m already driving). I''m like "HELLO! Do you not HEAR the emergency siren??"

~lisa

 

[Steel]

In all seriousness I believe that bad driving, poor observation, tiredness etc are just excuses.

I believe that many drivers suffer from self-entitledness; without which they would be better and more courteous, respectful drivers.

I have a personal bug-bear when I hear the 4 little words "I didn''t see you", by which they really mean "I''m sorry, I didn''t look".

 

[somethingshiny]

treefrog~ You have my sympathy. My dad drives an ambulance and I remember how irate he was that people "weren''t getting the f*** out of the way" when he had a kid whose brain was literally exposed in the back. It is insane how some people drive. I pull over as soon as I see or hear anything and I don''t know how many people pass me while I''m on the shoulder and there''s an emergency vehicle behind them. People are self-centered.

 

[Octavia]

This is one of the things I hate most about driving in the city -- many of our streets have 2 driving lanes and cars parked all down one side of the street. If there's much traffic, there is literally nowhere to go when you hear sirens behind you except into the intersection, which is a danger in itself because cross traffic usually isn't paying attention to the sirens. I was always taught to get over and stop while the emergency vehicle passes, but finding a way to do it around here can be difficult and I've actually seen it cause accidents when people try to yield (fender-benders, nothing serious, but still scary). It makes me sick to my stomach when I can't yield quickly enough, I always worry about the person in back of the the ambulance. I really wish there was a better system...

And treefrog, thank you for the valuable service you do! I could NEVER be an ambulance driver and am thankful that there are people like you who can.

 

[oddoneout]

Date: 4/25/2010 11:58:18 AM
Author: lliang_chi
Treefrog, hope your patient got there in time, but I totally know what you''re talking about. Whenever I even hear a siren, I always slow down and look all around me to see where it''s coming from. Sometimes the drivers get mad that I''m slowing down (not stopping in the middle of the street, mind you, but just slow to move on a green light, or just take my foot of the gas if I''m already driving). I''m like ''HELLO! Do you not HEAR the emergency siren??''


~lisa

I do this too. I mean hello someone''s life could be at stake so follow the rules.

 

[treefrog]

Thanks for the support everybody. I''ll admit that at intersections there''s often very little you can do. I wish I had a right answer for you there but there isn''t one because every intersection situation is different. Obviously, we don''t want you getting in an accident trying to get out of our way.

I had to go through a lot of intersections in downtown Baltimore and didn''t have trouble at most of them. The straight roads, however, I found no excuses for. An ambulance doesn''t exactly have the acceleration of any car. Once we have to slow down, it takes a while to get it back. Nothing worse than me having to slow down, the car finally moves over, and I''ve lost my momentum. Now, I''m sitting there going slow and the light cars want to pass again as I work my speed back up... right back where I started from.

My tip: pull over well ahead of time, no need to stop. Just ride the shoulder if possible and give the ambulance room. It is very tough for anybody in the back trying to start an IV, do CPR, listen to lung sounds, talk to surgeons on the radio, etc. so the smoother and quieter we can go, the better. Any maneuvering we have to do is amplified in the back of the ambulance.

Treefrog

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/26/2010 10:12:50 AM
Author: treefrog
Thanks for the support everybody. I''ll admit that at intersections there''s often very little you can do. I wish I had a right answer for you there but there isn''t one because every intersection situation is different. Obviously, we don''t want you getting in an accident trying to get out of our way.

I had to go through a lot of intersections in downtown Baltimore and didn''t have trouble at most of them. The straight roads, however, I found no excuses for. An ambulance doesn''t exactly have the acceleration of any car. Once we have to slow down, it takes a while to get it back. Nothing worse than me having to slow down, the car finally moves over, and I''ve lost my momentum. Now, I''m sitting there going slow and the light cars want to pass again as I work my speed back up... right back where I started from.

My tip: pull over well ahead of time, no need to stop. Just ride the shoulder if possible and give the ambulance room. It is very tough for anybody in the back trying to start an IV, do CPR, listen to lung sounds, talk to surgeons on the radio, etc. so the smoother and quieter we can go, the better. Any maneuvering we have to do is amplified in the back of the ambulance.

Treefrog

Treefrog

I want to thank you for bringing this to our attention, I know this thread''s message will reach a lot of people and possibly some lives could be saved because of it.

Thank you too for all you do!

 

[treefrog]

Date: 4/25/2010 1:49:38 PM
Author: Steal
In all seriousness I believe that bad driving, poor observation, tiredness etc are just excuses.

I believe that many drivers suffer from self-entitledness; without which they would be better and more courteous, respectful drivers.

I have a personal bug-bear when I hear the 4 little words ''I didn''t see you'', by which they really mean ''I''m sorry, I didn''t look''.

That''s a big part of it. I''ve found that many drivers stay in front and try to outrun me. It''s a losing battle though because there''s somebody in front of that vehicle that isn''t trying to outrun the ambulance but they man not see it because the "blocker" is blocking the lights/siren.

Any car can outrun an ambulance. However, unless EVERY car along the way wants to outrun it, it''s only a matter of time before we''re all on our brakes. Just slide over and let the emergency vehicle room. It will cost the average driver maybe twenty seconds and the funny/ironic part is that driver will probably get to the mall or restaurant where they''re going to and drive around for 2 or 3 minutes looking for a better parking spot!

Treefrog

 

[treefrog]

Date: 4/25/2010 3:19:52 PM
Author: Octavia
This is one of the things I hate most about driving in the city -- many of our streets have 2 driving lanes and cars parked all down one side of the street. If there''s much traffic, there is literally nowhere to go when you hear sirens behind you except into the intersection, which is a danger in itself because cross traffic usually isn''t paying attention to the sirens. I was always taught to get over and stop while the emergency vehicle passes, but finding a way to do it around here can be difficult and I''ve actually seen it cause accidents when people try to yield (fender-benders, nothing serious, but still scary). It makes me sick to my stomach when I can''t yield quickly enough, I always worry about the person in back of the the ambulance. I really wish there was a better system...

And treefrog, thank you for the valuable service you do! I could NEVER be an ambulance driver and am thankful that there are people like you who can.

Octavia,

Thank you.

I agree... it''s very tough in busy, crowded city streets. We certainly don''t want anybody getting into an accident trying to get out of our way. I am certain there are ambulance drivers that will not do a good job trying to get through. Technically, an ambulance/fire engine/police car is only an emergency vehicle when using lights AND sirens. However, many of use use discretion and discontinue the siren/air horn, in neighborhoods, late at night, or at intersections where there may be cars in front of us and we see no easy/safe way for the ambulance or for them to get through. There is a difference between safe and reasonable and unreasonable. I was on one of those city streets Friday night. I had a taxi a few vehicles in front of me waiting to pick somebody up. The taxi blocked everybody from getting out of my way. That went into my unreasonable category and I was relentless with the siren and air horn.

As for your never being an ambulance driver part, it''s extremely stressful. I don''t like driving it but I''m a volunteer with a volunteer/paid fire station and it''s tough to get volunteers, not to mention volunteers willing to drive the larger emergency vehicles.

I think it would be very different if drivers were required to experience the front passenger seat of an ambulance while their loved one was in the back (but I wouldn''t wish that on anybody).

Treefrog

 

[Laila619]

How annoying and awful! Some drivers are just so oblivious when it comes to pulling over for emergency vehicles. They need to think how they would feel if it were their loved one in an ambulance and some oblivious driver was getting in the way.

 

[treefrog]

Date: 4/26/2010 10:16:26 AM
Author: Lorelei

Treefrog

I want to thank you for bringing this to our attention, I know this thread''s message will reach a lot of people and possibly some lives could be saved because of it.

Thank you too for all you do!

Why thank you Lorelei!

I guess people don''t realize that seconds/minutes can very much matter. I was so frustrated when I posted that but I agree, if this helps just one person better understand what to do and what not to do, it could contribute towards saving a life. You just never know what may be happening in the back of an ambulance.

Treefrog

 

[Hest88]

Ugh. You know, there was a New Yorker article a few years ago about car accidents. In it, they quoted a doctor who said something along the lines of "Everyone thinks major car accidents are unusual, but if you think about all the near misses you''ve had in your life you''ll see how common they can be."

That really stayed with me, since when I think back to all the times I *could* have gotten into an accident and didn''t, it''s rather scary.