brispie
Andy Booth Terrier
[M0:0]
Posts: 3,386
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Post by brispie on Dec 22, 2007 0:26:21 GMT 1
I was the first to the scene of an accident this evening whilst I was cycling home from work. It's still playing on my mind now. Post traumatic stress?
I was just cycling past the end of Temple Meads, for you who know Bristol. Heading south towards the river. I remember glancing up towards the station to see what time it was (4.45) and then looked back ahead. The traffic had stopped and what I first thought was a large bag was lying in the road. As I rode past a bus stop I heard someone on the phone to an ambulance so knew that was sorted.
I dropped my bike and ran across 2 lanes to the bloke. The first car that had stopped had 2 people in. One of them got out and went to him as well. He'd been on a bike and his back wheel was mangled. The other bloke bent down to see him and there was blood coming out of his head. I retrieved his glasses and mobile phone which were scattered across the road. Another car stopped to protect us from rush hour traffic at one of Bristol's busiest sections of road.
The bloke crouching over him asked him his name and all he could do was mumble. I actually thought he was mentally disabled. White foam was coming out of his mouth and bright red blood leaking from his head. Two ambulances got there fairly swiftly. An off duty policeman also helped. The ambulance then called the police.
Apparently, although I somehow didn't see it, probably because I'd just glanced up to see the clock at Temple Meads, a driver clipped the cyclist, sent him sprawling across their bonnet and then onto the road, smashing his head. The driver then sped off. The bloke who got there at the same time as me had been in the car behind.
I had to leave before I found out how bad he was. The ambulance crews had him sat up, but the cut looked very bad. Maybe half an inch wide and over an inch long.
It's now playing on my mind how bad he was. Will they catch the wanker of a driver and whether I could have done more to help or even catch that driver.
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Bernie
Jimmy Glazzard Terrier
[M0:0]
Posts: 4,322
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Post by Bernie on Dec 22, 2007 1:01:54 GMT 1
Brispie, I don't know why I'm here now, possibly alcohol related, but i want to say you have done the right thing by a) stopping to see what you could do to help and b) expunging the things you saw by writing them down here. I have been in a similar situation and it ain't nice, ain't nice at ALL.
YOU have done a GOOD thing - you weren't there when it happened, it wasn't your fault, and even thuogh you coudl have just shaken your head, tutted and cylcled on past, you DIDN'T. You stopped and helped. That alone make you better than at leat 50% of the population, believe it or not. There was NOTHING more you could do, and as I said, you already did more than most. And you would have had NO chance of changing anything or even getting the driver's number - you didn't even see the accident, for Adge's sake.
The driver is an utter, utter c*** and this will hopefully prey on his/her mind until (s)he dies. You could have done NO MORE, and you already did more than most. If this has really bothered you, take my advice and talk to someone, even someone who gets paid to listen tp this sort of stuff, it WILL help- MCF's "grit in" advice only works for some people for some things. The rest of us human beings benefit from a bit of debriefing (oo err)
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Post by suz on Dec 22, 2007 1:07:31 GMT 1
What Bernoulli said. That's a terrible thing to witness but you did the right thing and yes go talk to someone about it! There's one on here who's very good at sorting stuff like this. PM me and I'll let you know if you don't already!
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Post by GlasgowTangerine on Dec 22, 2007 1:22:55 GMT 1
That's pretty shitty. I hope the guy is ok. Don't get yourself down too much about it, you did everything you could.
There's some right wankers about. The guy who caused the accident I was in on the M74 last Saturday drove off as well, leaving another car stranded in the fast lane of the motorway, at a busy time facing the complete wrong direction. And now we have stupidly complicated insurance claims, but there's nothing the police can do because all they know is it's a small blue car.
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Post by latelark on Dec 22, 2007 11:35:43 GMT 1
Exactly what bernie said You could have done no more
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ab
Andy Booth Terrier
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Posts: 3,001
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Post by ab on Dec 22, 2007 17:03:03 GMT 1
Good work - don't let it play on your mind as you did the best you could. I expect there's a decent chance that the following car might have got the plate of the car the knocked the cyclist over. Given that it is a busy stretch of road there might also have been traffic cameras in operation, although I guess you'd know best about that!
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brispie
Andy Booth Terrier
[M0:0]
Posts: 3,386
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Post by brispie on Dec 22, 2007 21:00:29 GMT 1
Thank you all. This really did plague me and still is. Struggled to get to sleep even though I was knackered and then woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep as I was thinking about it.
I've just checked the local press and it's not a story (well, not a headline story). I'll assume that this is a good thing and that the bloke is doing OK.
I'll keep my eyes peeled if there's a call for witnesses. Even though I didn't see the incident, somebody pointed out to me that I can definitively identify the exact time of the accident.
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Post by skopje on Dec 22, 2007 22:02:42 GMT 1
As everyone else has said, there's all sorts of things go through your mind when something as traumatic as this happens, but you clearly acted swiftly and sensibly. Even a fairly small incident can get to you, so don't think you're over-reacting, and as a few have said, if it does bother you for a few days just speak to a professional - they know what they're doing.
Well done brispie - shame there are not more people like you.
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ralph2
Jimmy Nicholson Terrier
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Posts: 1,423
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Post by ralph2 on Dec 23, 2007 0:34:22 GMT 1
Did you get any fohties Bris?
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sideshow
Frank Worthington Terrier
[M0:0]
Posts: 1,873
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Post by sideshow on Dec 23, 2007 14:43:57 GMT 1
well done bris, done right. My cousin saw a cyclists head get run over by a lorry a couple of weeks back, he's still shaking.
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owlie
Iain Dunn Terrier
[M0:2]
Posts: 526
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Post by owlie on Dec 23, 2007 17:51:46 GMT 1
I agree with the good stuff that everyone else has said and would just like to add that this is exactly the reason why cyclists should be banned from the road.
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