Guilt

This morning I saw a car on the way in that was on its roof. I was in the left hand lane and there were two other cars along the shoulder apparently assisting the overturned car. During my 20 minute ride into work I couldn’t stop thinking about whether I should have stopped and assisted. What could I have done other than call the police? Since there were two other cars there and people obviously helping the situation, I felt okay with leaving the scene. The car was dark and could have been there a while and I was far enough away with no way to turn around since there is “jersey barricade” in the center of the road.

Sometimes I see things like this and drive on past before wondering if I should help. There have been plenty of times that I call right away. Once I saw an old man trip and fall crossing the street. I immediately stopped my car, pulled out my cell phone and dialed 911. I then stayed with him until help arrived. It was no big deal and anyone would have done the same, but his son was effusive when he saw me afterwards. Another time my husband and I were on our way and stopped at the light at a major intersection in our town. As we were sitting there, a car on the cross street crashed into the traffic light pole because the person turning left onto the cross street didn’t watch where he was going. Again I immediately got out of the car and called the police while assessing the situation. So, there are times when I am first on the scene like that that I help right away. I should not feel so guilty all the time.

I hope the person in the turned-over car is okay. However, chances are that he is not given the position of the car and the landscape they are not, but there is always hope. I guess I will read about it in the paper tomorrow and meanwhile I feel sorry for the people going down that road now while I am writing this. They are probably caught in a huge traffic mess.