I'm such a coward

[ydoaPs]

I'm such a coward.

 

On my way home, there was a car on I-64E traveling west. I could have done the right thing. I could have, but I didn't. I could have leaned back into my seat, close my eyes, grit my teeth, and hit the gas. Instead, I was a coward and I swerved out of the way. Instead of eliminating a danger to others I decided to preserve my own well being. I got out of the way just in time and the wrong-way driver got away.

 

What happened after that? I don't know. Did EVERYONE get out of the way? Based on my experience with VA drivers, I'd say no. Two cars at highway speed(and possibly one or both speeding) could have collided and I could have stopped it.

 

Assume for a moment that someone else did get hit(I don't know yet). I was wearing my seatbelt. Was the victim? I have free medical. Does the victim even have health insurance? I had no reason to safe myself, but I did.

 

When I swerved, I heard my tires squeal. Now, every time I drive home, I'll see the skidmarks and be reminded of the time when I didn't man up and put others at risk.

[ecoli]

you have no way of knowing whether that driver actually hurt someone else or how bad it could have been. You're priority is to take care of your own well-being. If anything bad happened to someone else, it's only the fault of the one who is driving like a lunatic. Wearing a seat belt doesn't mean you're immune from harm. You could have been seriously injured or worse. And, if that car didn't anyone else, that injury would have been for nothing... not to mention dealing with insurance, rehab, etc.

 

I know people who have been in serious accidents, and trust me you don't want to get involved in that on purpose. A friend of mine in middle school was hit by a truck that was spinning out of control. The brain damage she suffered was so severe that I didn't see her again until few years later. She basically had to go back to the beginning of her life and start again. She didn't even sound or look the same, and I don't think she even recognized any of her old friends.

 

There are too many what-ifs and might have beens to claim responsibility for something you couldn't control.

 

Anyway, I'm sure you've done enough wrong things in your life that you don't need to take any more responsibility for things that aren't your fault!

 

Relax man, just consider yourself lucky that you were able to get out of the way.

Edited August 5, 2008 by ecoli

[john5746]

 

When I swerved, I heard my tires squeal. Now, every time I drive home, I'll see the skidmarks and be reminded of the time when I didn't man up and put others at risk.

 

Go buy a .45, then you can take out dangerous drivers while keeping you safe. This saves you for taking out more dangerous drivers in the future.

[Ladeira]

It's called reflex! It's nature fault!

Don't blame yourself... I'm sure no one else would collide to save others nor even think about the danger that could have been caused to others as you're thinking about.

Don't worry, we can't change the past... So, now, there's nothing you can do and regreting won't take you anywhere!

[Sisyphus]

Not only do I think you shouldn't beat yourself up about it, I think you did the right thing, too. The choice wasn't between sacrificing yourself vs. someone else, it was between sacrificing yourself and the other driver vs... probably nothing. It's impossible to say why somebody was driving the wrong way down the highway, but chances are it wasn't attempted suicide/murder. And if it wasn't, they probably got the hell off the road pretty quick.

[Klaynos]

You did what's natural, no matter what happened afterwards, they are the idiot not you.

[Phi for All]

There are too many what-ifs and might have beens to claim responsibility for something you couldn't control.

QFT.

 

What happened to others due to the wrong-way driver wouldn't have been your responsibility at all, until the moment that you decided to intervene by running into him. From that point forward *you* become partly responsible for the outcome of what the wrong-way driver initiated. You may save others or you may cause them to crash into your wreck or skid into each other on oil that's on the road because of you, when nothing at all may have happened to them otherwise.

 

And you can't know that the wrong-way driver didn't correct his mistake as soon as he passed you. You may have been the first to see this guy after he came up the wrong ramp. Occam's Razor.

 

While your impulse is laudable and noble, imo, in this instance, dealing with tremendous, unpredictable and lethal energies, I think your physicist instincts took over. Don't beat yourself up.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Phi for All
clarification