Sunday, August 17, 2008

Totally Oblivious, September 26, 2006


THIS PAST WEEKEND I along with about five or six other people were eye witnesses to what could have been a horrible accident between an SUV and a bicyclist.

It all started Saturday morning as I was walking to my wife's work. I was about a half block from our house looking toward the first intersection that I had walk through. As I looked past that intersection, I noticed a woman, a few years younger than me, on her bike with walkman headphones on. She had a bag with stuff in it and a soda in one hand and she was steering the bike with the other hand. I remember thinking, that's not very safe and recalled lecturing my young son about safe habits when he rides his bike.

Not more than five seconds after that, she blew through that intersection and was hit by an SUV. A crowd immediately gathered and the police were on the scene in less than 60 seconds. After briefly pausing at the accident scene, it was obvious she was receiving attention from the police officers so I continued my walk.

As I approached the next intersection, I almost saw two automobile accidents involving emergency vehicles responding to the downed cyclist. Both because of motorists trying to beat the emergency vehicles through the intersection. To top it all off, in the one lane of traffic where the motorist actually did yield the right of way, the driver behind was laying on his horn and yelling obscenities out his window at the driver in front of him.

These occurances aren't unique to where I live. They are, however, a great example of how a lot of people today go through life totally oblivious to everything around them. Let's take a look at the woman on the bike. In addition to operating the bike in the unsafe manner I described earlier, she was riding on the wrong side of the street and on the sidewalk (both illegal here). Plus, she blew through the instersection without looking for oncoming traffic. When the other witnesses initially gathered, they began yelling at the driver of the SUV. Everyone was totally oblivious to what had just played out before their eyes and they had no problem telling a story that was not entirely true. Eventually, the police got to the bottom of what really happened. The SUV driver was cleared and except for a few bumps, scrapes, and bruises, the woman on the bike was okay. She is going to have to pay a few fines though for the infractions she committed.

The failure of the drivers to yield for emergency vehicles, along with the man blowing his horn and screaming obscenities are just of a couple more examples of the lack of attention and rudeness that seems to flourish in our society today. Between that and the people who have no regard for the rules or each other, I'm surprised that scenes like the one I witnessed Saturday don't play out more often.

I just thank God everyday that there are men and women out there who serve as police officers, firefighters, and paramedics who are willing to put themselves in the middle of that kind of insanity on a daily basis to protect the rest of us from those among us who are nothing more than totally oblivious.

originally posted 9/26/06 on Yahoo 360

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is one thing I will say for living in rural Alabama most of my life. While we do have the same number of people who don't pay attention on the road, when it comes to emergency vehicles..we're some fast yielding folks. I've never witnessed a case where an emergency vehicle wasn't given the widest opening possible on short notice. Most drivers will pull as far out of the way as possible to let them through long before they get there. Of course, we also stop for funerals and sit there on the side of the road until every last car with it's lights on passes by us. I know it's annoying to people who don't share the custom but not pulling over for a funeral here will get you far more insolence than holding someone up because you did.

Now that I'm in Florida, I just realized I have no idea if they do that here. I guess I'll find out...

Tuesday September 26, 2006 - 09:16pm (PDT)

Anonymous said...

just wanted to come by and say hello and i read ur blog anyways great blog:) have a great night:)

Wednesday September 27, 2006 - 12:17am (EDT)

Anonymous said...

Always a interesting blog you have, it is such a shame people can be so rude now a day's. They forget to stop and breath and enjoy the people around them, I think they get in such a hurry in there lifes .. they just don't stop and think ! There are also a lot of good people around us thank goodness ! I know this has nothing to do with your blog or maybe it doe's to some extent but love your song .. who sing's it ??

Wednesday September 27, 2006 - 01:15am (EDT)

Anonymous said...

i had something happen like that to me one time. I was in a nearby college town and this woman just walks out in front of me...I am serious, she never looked or anything, and she was walking fast. I was already crossing to crosswalk when she stepped out, with my SUV. And of course I slam the brake and she flipped ME off!!! I think that some people just assume that everyone else is watching, and that everyone else has their back. They have the right of way, no matter what the situation is...

Wednesday September 27, 2006 - 07:08am (EDT)

Anonymous said...

We have some people here that dont pull over onto the side to let the emengencey vechichels go on by. I swear they just dont have any respect. In AR here when there is a funeral percussion going by we all pull off to the side and let them all go on by.

Wednesday September 27, 2006 - 07:30am (PDT)

Anonymous said...

Ok....that was my downer for the day!

Wednesday September 27, 2006 - 12:11pm (EDT)

Anonymous said...

Amy - In Florida we give police escorts for funerals. So, yeah we pullover or yield right of way.

I used to think my 1998 black trans-am was a stealth car. I can't tell you how many times pedistrians, cyclists, skateboarders and other cars pulled out in front of me. I figured becuse it was black and low to the ground people didn't register it. I alwasy try to be defensive though, so I was always prepared for the dumb move. Except for the nice lady who had the right of way as I was trying to crosss over to get in her lane to wait at a light. She noticed she had blocked the opening in the median and decided to back-up to allow me to get in front of her. The problem was I had already pulled in behind her, diagonally when I saw the light change and anticpacted her moving forward. She backed right into my driver door. Boy was she surprised.

Wednesday September 27, 2006 - 03:34pm (EDT)

Anonymous said...

Great post Mark and family!
My dad was a police and perametic for many years, and growing up, I got to hear all the storys, some I cared not to hear either. My dad's jobs wore on him over the years, and caused lots of problems. I know it is far from easy to be in that line of work. thanks for the great post! made me think.
Love in Christ, Sabrina

Thursday September 28, 2006 - 07:36am (CDT)

Anonymous said...

It amazes me too that it doesn't happen more often then we hear about. It never ceases to amaze me what I see everyday on the road....I cannot even believe a person can climb into a vechicle without putting 100% into their driving. So many lives are lost or maimed due to negliance in driving...
peace n love
Debby

Saturday October 7, 2006 - 10:18pm (CDT)

Anonymous said...

there is so much we don't know about that goes on behind the scenes in these public servants jobs... thanks for a great post Mark. The underlying message though is how we all "truck" on through life in our own little world totally oblivious to the surroundings and others... shakes head and sighs. The way that the whole story wasn't told in truth in the beginning at least reminds me exactly of another situation I had in a blog. It is not a well known blog and being gone from 360 pretty much the last couple months I was catching up. So I asked for a few to check out the newest entry because last time i did that it seemed like others came to read as well. There was something in the blog that one of the persons I asked to check it out didn't like and said it sickened them.
When I tried to explain it wasn't a political thing or did I have an agenda or mean to be inapproproprite they took that the wrong way too and the next thing I know they have an entire blog albout this situation and how I asked for an opinion and if I didn't want to hear it then I shouldn't have asked for it and that I was only wanting their praises and they refused to do so. I had also asked for some others to go view the blog and see if they felt it was inappropriate and if I got any other responses thinking along the same lines I was going to edit the blog. They claimed I didn't want to receive their opinion and that wasn't the TRUTH at ALL, I did value it and I was seeking to see ifothers felt the same way because they did make me question and think about what they had originally posted in the comment section. When I whent to their blog to talk to them I wa shocked to see the entire blog judging my thoughts, my motives, and everyone patting them on the back that I was this and I was that and good for you girl hit that delete button. I don't think any of them knew me, or even read the blog to see. They just ran their opinions and judgements right through a busy intersection and crushed me and it did hurt immensely. I decided not to pursue trying to explain it only seemed to be taken out of context anytime I spoke. Truth presented isn't always truth...it is assumptions and perceptions. thanks for letting me vent Mark.

Sunday October 8, 2006 - 12:10pm (CDT)