#1131 the immediate aftermath

This evening after work I had to go to the pharmacy and to the grocery store. As I was walking through the parking lot and I noticed flames and smoke on the road. Then I noticed people running toward the middle of the road and a lot of people on the sidewalk. I had to go check it out.

The flames and smoke were coming from a motorcycle that was burning in the northbound lane. The people were running toward the person who had been on the motorcycle but was now laying in the middle of the road about 20 feet from his burning bike. The car that had hit the the motorcycle was about six feet from the motorcycle. It's front bumper was gone and the hood was crumpled. While I was standing there, the driver's side door opened and the driver kind of tumbled out. The air bag had deployed and he had just hit a guy on a motorcycle, so I'm sure he was pretty shaken up. He wasn't alone in the car; there was a little kid in there too. He looked scared.

About that time the police, ambulance and fire trucks showed up. It was amazing how quickly they got the scene secured. The paramedics came out with the gurney and they started trying to put the victim on a back board. The victim only had one shoe on. His other shoe had flown off during the accident, I guess.

I felt so sad and a little weird. What was I doing standing there watching all of this? Why? I went into the store.

When I came back out, the scene hadn't cleared out. The ambulance had moved to a parking lot across the street and a Air Med helicopter was coming. I had to stick around for that because helicopters are cool. It landed in the field across the street from the store. The paramedics loaded the motorcycle guy into the helicopter and it took off. I'm not much for praying, but at that moment I was sending good wishes and positive vibes to the poor dude on the gurney.

I also sent out some positive thoughts to the driver of the car and his little passenger. How awful it must have been for him to know that he had just sent a guy to the hospital by helicopter. And that poor little kid - he must have been so freaked out.

I think what happened is that the car was making a left turn out of the grocery store parking lot and just didn't see the motorcycle. It was a brutal reminder for me about how fast things happen and how life changing a minute can be.

Please be safe out there, friends.