Just saw drunk guy fall off sidewalk into the street in front of traffic.

Discussion in 'Potent Potables' started by AceK, Dec 15, 2012.

  1. AceK

    AceK Scientia Potentia Est

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    I was just walking to the liquor store to get a colt 45 blast and as I'm standing on the corner waiting for the light to give me the walk signal a guy appears out of the covered area on the sidewalk where the bench is for the bus stop right there and he kindof staggers across the sidewalk toward the street and then just falls straight back like a sack of bricks off the sidewalk, smacking his head against a fire hydrant (ouch) as he went down before he kissed the concrete! I had headphones in but I swear I thought I could feel the thud for real. He faceplanted the street hard, falling right in front of an oncoming cab that luckily saw the whole thing and steered around him!

    Several cars came by, all luckily noticing the body in the street and steering around him to avoid running over this fool but it was already dark out and I feared that some driver not paying attention would not see him and crush his head under their tires. Now I really should have took a picture so I could post it up here but I tried to mind my own business and try to get across the street as quickly as I can since I wanted nothing to do with this, I did not want to be there to witness this fool getting run over by oncoming traffic. I really should have done something to help get him out of the street, but none of the other people that were much closer than I was did anything, everyone just kinda minded their own business not wanting to deal with someone fucked up to that extent. On the corner of the next block right before the liquor store were two of those people that work in the city, not sure what you call those people but I told them they should go check on this dude before he gets run over.

    Walking back from the liquor store there were cops already there and I was surprised they got there that fast as I wasn't in the liquor store long. They seemed to be trying to get him up, but he was still in the street but one of the cop cars was blocking the lane this dude was in. He probly went to jail, and I felt kinda bad about that since I had told them to check on him but I didnt know what else to do, he seriously could have died laying unconscious in the middle of a city street. Somebody had to get him out of the street and I didnt know if he was maybe hurt from hittin his head on concrete so hard.
     
  2. RetiredHippie

    RetiredHippie Hick

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    You left him on the street in a vulnerable position like getting run over by traffic and didn't do anything? I hope your nowhere near if I ever need some help.
     
  3. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    probably the best thing to do in that situation is call 911

    even better if someone stopped traffic

    then maybe someone helped him out of the street
     
  4. Starsrainbow

    Starsrainbow ~om~

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    At least telling someone that he hit concrete hard .... more than likely needs medical attention (he usually won't go straight to jail) my opinion

    some don't move fast enough ... to assist in help... I prolly wouldn't be here myself wasn't for another ...
     
  5. I'minmyunderwear

    I'minmyunderwear Newbie

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    prostitutes?
     
  6. AceK

    AceK Scientia Potentia Est

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    I did tell someone. I told them to go check on him before he gets run over. Figured they know better how to deal with it than I would as they deal with all kinds of shit daily and have radios and shit. By the time I passed that block again there were cops there trying to get him to respond. Maybe it sounded wrong the way I worded it, I just felt bad that he might have gottten in trouble because I had said something. I did witness the whole thing, but there were people much closer than I, I was really taking the path on the opposite side of the street. I didn't see anyone else really fazed by what happened that's why I told those city workers. When I told them about it they immediately headed that direction. I know I really should have ran over there and tried to drug him back onto the sidewalk or something but I expected that role to be filled by one of the people at that bus stop there.

    What I do know is that when I was walking back there were cops there trying to get him to stand up. He may get in a minor amount of trouble but he wasn't in danger of getting run over last time I saw him, and if I hadn't said anything who knows how long he would have been there lying in the street? Why do I feel guilty about saying something? As fucked up as he was that was the only thing that was gonna keep him safe. He was was too fucked up and didn't need to outside where there's traffic and shit. If he had to go to jail overnight to sober up, at least he won't get hurt, and he won't get in any serious trouble for it. He was seriously sooo fucked up, maybe he was on some other shit like heroin but most likely just got way too fucked up at that club on the corner....so fucked up he didn't make it half a block before he fell out. If I had seen an actual cop first I would have informed them also, but the people I told served the same function, they're somewhat like security, and they'll help tell you directions if you ask them.
     
  7. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    well, there might have been a better way to respond, but you did make an effort to help out, so good on ya, mate

    in any case, the cops showed up and got him out of the street, about as happy an ending to the story as there could have been
     
  8. bailz

    bailz Member

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    You could've grabbed his feet and pulled him onto the sidewalk. I bet he wouldn't bite...seeing that he is unconcious and everything.
     
  9. I'minmyunderwear

    I'minmyunderwear Newbie

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    in OP's defense, if the guy had a head or neck injury, which seems possible from the description of his fall, pulling him by the feet could have made it much worse, and in certain cases the guy could probably win a lawsuit against the person who pulled him by the feet and caused further injury.

    the most-helpful-while-covering-your-own-ass response i can think of would be calling for help while standing in the lane and directing traffic away from the guy.
     
  10. AceK

    AceK Scientia Potentia Est

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    i did think about going over there and trying to drag him back onto the sidewalk but doing that would have drug his head against the concrete and it would have knocked his head against the curb again and he didn't need to hit his head again for sure. He had a rough night, at least his head didn't land over one of those manholes where steam comes out, I'm sure it's plenty hot enough to melt your face off if you were that close to it.
     
  11. RetiredHippie

    RetiredHippie Hick

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    Sorry bout that. Good on ya Ace.
     
  12. thismoment

    thismoment Member

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    Google Kitty Genovese to see where you're at: Part of the problem. Don't ever whine about "society" or "justice" or "those people" or some such bullshit. It's you.
     
  13. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    it's often hard to know what the right thing to do is, especially when you get surprised by something.

    also, when you live in the city, you see fucked up shit happen all the time, and not surprisingly, people don't want to get involved, because there is some risk that shit happens to you too.

    ace tried to help. there were probably better ways to react.

    I don't see any reason to condemn him though. that he tried to help at all is worthy of at least some praise
     
  14. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    if someone has a head or spinal cord injury, you can indeed injure them by moving them. the best thing is to call 911, and

    WHENEVER YOU CALL 911, KEEP THEM ON THE LINE UNTIL THEY HANGUP (unless you have an urgent need to escape)


    I think that many states have good samaritan laws that protect against law suits.

    also, the danger of someone being in the street could justify moving them
     
  15. I'minmyunderwear

    I'minmyunderwear Newbie

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    yeah, there are definitely good samaritan laws in some places that would protect him, but i don't know if maryland is one of those places. plus just in general, i think there are still places where the drunk guy could win such a suit.

    the danger of someone being in the street could be argued to justify moving them, but then it's really not hard to get in the road and wave people over to the other lane.
     
  16. kokujin

    kokujin Senior Member

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    that's fucked. I think I would've waived traffic away and made sure the dude got up (on his own, thanks lawyer undie) and away from the street.
     
  17. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    too bad V.O.T. isn't around anymore. he probably could have given us the low-down on the legal issue
     
  18. AceK

    AceK Scientia Potentia Est

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    Some of you guys are trying to make me out as a bad person but really I'm one of the better ones. There are people out there that see something like that would just go through his pockets and do nothing else.

    I'm not whining about anything.

    Thanks to those of you who understand and have my back. It is hard to know exactly what to do when you see something like this occur. In one way, it was surprising to see and kinda shocked me, therefore I wasn't sure what to do until I had walked down the block and decided to alert authority to go help him. In another way, I do witness strange and fucked up things on a regular basis so it doesn't seem that out of the ordinary. Usually when I see strange crazy things going on, there is a reason I would prefer to walk on the other side of the street (especially at night when there are few other normal people walking), and this in a certain way evoked the avoid instinct. No one on this forum was there to see this, and exactly what the scene was surrounding it, so you probably can't completely understand. I agree that I could have handled it better, and next time something like this occurs I'll try and do better.
     
  19. Spectacles

    Spectacles My life is a tapestry Lifetime Supporter

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    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)
     
  20. AcidConspiracy

    AcidConspiracy Member

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    I probably woulda done the "wrong" thing and ran over and pulled his drunk ass up and maybe had to talk to the cops when they showed up and arrest us both for bein fucked up.... BUT at least you told someone man, thats probably the smart way to handle it. You are talking about living in a big city tho, and that's NOT my enviroment... 'round here we help a man who falls, watch other ppls kids to make sure they are playing nice, and say "howdy" to catch up with locals, and ALWAYS run into the folks you know when you go to the store
     

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