Sad........would you just drive by??

[Glocker]

Tuesday during rush hour traffic I noticed a car stalled in the middle of the intersection of rt 252 and rt 23, just outside Valley Forge park. Anyone that knows the area knows that this is not a good location to break down during rush hour.

It's times like these that one is able to observe the true nature of people, unfortunately much of what is observed is very sad, Tuesday was no exception.

At the time I was passing by I observed 4 older women (approx. 60's) in the stalled car, by the looks on their faces they were very scared and confused as to what they should do. Where I was located I was unable to immediately pull over, and was trying to wait for the light to turn green so I could get out of traffic and turn around to help. As I sat waiting for the light to turn green I had the unfortunate opportunity to observe oncoming traffic behind the stalled car either honk their horns, yell obscenities out the window to move the car, or dangerously drive around the stalled car with no regard for the possibility of one of the stalled car's doors opening.

The longer I sat waiting for the light to turn green so I could help, the angrier and more frustrated I became watching the scene. I finally drove the truck up on the shoulder, onto a patch of grass that was reasonably out of the way of traffic. I than proceeded to walk over to the stalled car to offer help.

As I was trying to offer assistance to the women I than became the target of the angry crowd.......which was fine with me.....the whole point of me stopping to assist was to ensure the ladies were safe until we figured what to do about their car. Finally, one other man pulled over to help offer assistance...........................it is sad how many men squeezed their cars around the stalled car making it a point not to help, but to offer their share of obscenities..............

After assessing the situation and calming the four women down (they were too upset to be thinking clearly) the other gentleman that stopped to help suggested the driver turn the key and see if the car was getting any power at all..............well wouldn't ya know, the car started right up.................the women paid their thanks and than drove off in a hurry, just glad to get out of the situation..........They didn't wait for my suggestion of me following them to their destination just in case they stalled again (I hope they made it).

This is turning into a longer e-mail than I expected and wanted, but the whole situation just had my blood boiling....................I just kept thinking that could have been my mother/wife in the car helpless to deal with an angry group of people........

I understand people have to get home to their kids and the rest of what their life puts on their plate..............but how long does it take to just ensure someone is at least safe, is not having a heart attack, or if they are that they are able to get the help they need,..........

or

even if a person chooses not to offer help to another person in need, how can a person feel comfortable adding insult to injury by shouting obscenities and the like?????

Well......that was a long e-mail.......but at least you get to just drive by and ignore it if you choose

Have an awesome day!!!!!!!
Glocker

[Raskin91]

It is a sad state of affairs that only two people offered help. +1 to you for stopping. It is even sadder that all the people driving by had to add insult to injury by yelling. I think we all need to slow down and take a breathe every now and then. I used to be an angry driver, and I will admit every now and then I still have my moments. I have taken a much calmer and mature stance on life and all it's chaos. Again kudos to you for stopping to help.

[Green Lantern]

The world needs more people like you to make it a better place!

[jahwarrior72]

yeah, i would stop. i have in the past, and people have stopped for me, as well. no point in yelling at someone; cars break down, they stall. ya did good.

[Dredly]

More then likely I'd just drive by if it was a busy intersection / highway... I know I suck... If it was on a back road or highway that isn't extremely busy I'd offer assistance.

- You are much more likely to be struck stopping to help a stranded motorist then if you don't stop, same goes for your vehicle. At least if you are in your car the car takes the brunt of it... if you aren't well good night

- You never know whats going on or why they are stopped. In this case it was 4 worried ladies, in a lot of cases its a domestic dispute or something similar

- I know jack shit about cars, if it doesn't work i can help push it... thats about it.

- There really is no reason for people to not have a cell phone, prepay phones can be had for less then 50.00 and 911 works from phones with no minutes on them or deactivated SIM cards (its the law)

[er2006]

proves that ther e are a lot of stupid MFers aot there and I would tried to do something myself. Not familiar with the area though .

Thanks for helping the people.
Ed

[Zef_66]

Yes and no. I have done both. I have stopped and offered assistance to people when they are broken down when it is obvious that they are causing a traffic tie-up. But I have also just driven by people on the side of the road that are broken down. In the days of cell phones, most people have one. And most of the people I see broken down are on the phone. So I guess that makes me feel a little better.

But really, I know I should stop more often and offer help to them.

[Michele]

Your kindness will be repaid.......you'll see.

No, I wouldn't just drive by. I've always stopped to help in some way. I've done some outrageous things helping those that were stuck or in a bad situation. Allot of times they didn't appreciate it. Unfortunately the one time I was stuck, 8 miles from home, with an infant (my son) and it was snowing, nobody stopped to help me, until the last mile. However, I still didn't loose my faith in people. I, to this day, will still stop.

[st.marys]

Yea, I'd stop, and often do. About a month ago I was on my way home from work, and there was a mini SUV type vehicle stalled on a busy part of the Parkway East in Pittsburgh. It was around 7:00pm and rush hour traffic had let up where she was. She was just around a long corner, and I was worried she was going to get hit from behind. There was nowhere to pull off, so I used my Expedition to push her vehicle up to a pull off place. I was glad I stopped, cause she had a little girl in the car around the same age as my daughter. She had someone on their way, so she didn't need anything else from me. I went in my Truck and got some of my daughter's markers and her art pad and gave them to the little girl for something to do while waiting. I would only hope someone would stop for me or my ex-wife in the same situation.

[SteveXD]

Well I don't agree with the yelling, but In a busy intersection I wouldn't stop and here is why. A coworker of mine who lives in MN pulled over to help two people on the side of the road that had a flat tire. While helping them a car struck his car pushing it into the car with the flat. The driver with the flat was killed and his girlfriend was crushed between the guard rail, but lived. Can you guess who they tried to hold responsible?!?