Dave
Staff member
So Monday I was on my way home from work and I witnessed the following:
Traveling West on street directly behind a green Ford Taurus. I watched as a red car (make model unknown to me) pulled away from a stop sign directly into the path of the green car, which hit the red car directly on the passenger door. Bam. Red car spins violently and comes to rest in the center of the road. Green car caroms off and ends up in a deserted lot down an embankment.
I immediately pull over, put on my hazards and as I'm dialing 9-1-1 I approach the red car. The driver ( a youngish lady) says she's okay but she needs to check on her daughter in the back seat. The child is upset but says she's fine and was belted in perfectly. I then move down the embankment and make sure that the other driver is fine and she is already out of her car and says she's perfectly okay. Both cars have air bags deployed and all were wearing seat belts.
Here's where it gets weird.
The lady in the green car - who was not at fault - says she doesn't want to call the cops and that they would just exchange information. Little light went on above my head. About that time a local bar on the corner had a group of old men boil out of it to see what the commotion was (3 pm on a Monday and they were all in there drinking - I love it!). I mentioned to one of them what was going on and told him to talk to the lady from the green car. I then proceeded to the red car and noticed the driver had blood on her neck. As it was raining and I could see she was shaking I gave her my coat and took her inside the bar. I bought the little girl (about 6) a soda with a straw and tried to calm her down, although this was difficult as her mom was crying and shaking.
It was then that the old guy came in and said the lady in the green car had taken off. She just hopped in her beat-up car and drove off. The old guy had her license # for the cops so her running was a bad fucking idea. He did note that her eyes were huge and she was probably driving impaired. The lady from the red car couldn't remember anything that happened as she obviously didn't see the green car or brace for any impact.
So here's my question as to whether I did the right thing. I was the only witness!! I am the only car that stopped. Nobody in the bar saw anything. The lady in the green car ran like a rabbit and the lady in the red car had no recollection of what had happened.
When the cops came I told them exactly what had happened: the lady in the red car failed to yield - it was her fault - and the lady in the green car ran.
Should I have thrown the lady in the green car under the bus and say it was her fault? The poor lady in the red car was young, had a kid and now had a car that was completely gone. She was in a poor neighborhood and this is probably a terrible blow to her financial well-being. I know that she was licensed and insured. The lady in the green car was probably about my age, apparently driving impaired and was probably uninsured. If it went to court it would have been my word against hers and I doubt hers would have stood up.
So did I do the right thing or the wrong thing by telling the truth in this case?
Traveling West on street directly behind a green Ford Taurus. I watched as a red car (make model unknown to me) pulled away from a stop sign directly into the path of the green car, which hit the red car directly on the passenger door. Bam. Red car spins violently and comes to rest in the center of the road. Green car caroms off and ends up in a deserted lot down an embankment.
I immediately pull over, put on my hazards and as I'm dialing 9-1-1 I approach the red car. The driver ( a youngish lady) says she's okay but she needs to check on her daughter in the back seat. The child is upset but says she's fine and was belted in perfectly. I then move down the embankment and make sure that the other driver is fine and she is already out of her car and says she's perfectly okay. Both cars have air bags deployed and all were wearing seat belts.
Here's where it gets weird.
The lady in the green car - who was not at fault - says she doesn't want to call the cops and that they would just exchange information. Little light went on above my head. About that time a local bar on the corner had a group of old men boil out of it to see what the commotion was (3 pm on a Monday and they were all in there drinking - I love it!). I mentioned to one of them what was going on and told him to talk to the lady from the green car. I then proceeded to the red car and noticed the driver had blood on her neck. As it was raining and I could see she was shaking I gave her my coat and took her inside the bar. I bought the little girl (about 6) a soda with a straw and tried to calm her down, although this was difficult as her mom was crying and shaking.
It was then that the old guy came in and said the lady in the green car had taken off. She just hopped in her beat-up car and drove off. The old guy had her license # for the cops so her running was a bad fucking idea. He did note that her eyes were huge and she was probably driving impaired. The lady from the red car couldn't remember anything that happened as she obviously didn't see the green car or brace for any impact.
So here's my question as to whether I did the right thing. I was the only witness!! I am the only car that stopped. Nobody in the bar saw anything. The lady in the green car ran like a rabbit and the lady in the red car had no recollection of what had happened.
When the cops came I told them exactly what had happened: the lady in the red car failed to yield - it was her fault - and the lady in the green car ran.
Should I have thrown the lady in the green car under the bus and say it was her fault? The poor lady in the red car was young, had a kid and now had a car that was completely gone. She was in a poor neighborhood and this is probably a terrible blow to her financial well-being. I know that she was licensed and insured. The lady in the green car was probably about my age, apparently driving impaired and was probably uninsured. If it went to court it would have been my word against hers and I doubt hers would have stood up.
So did I do the right thing or the wrong thing by telling the truth in this case?
