Couple survived motorcycle crash no thanks to witness who kept driving
On Saturday, Aug. 14, at approximately 8:45 p.m., my nephew and his fiancé were traveling on Austin Road near Manchester when they went off the road on their motorcycle and careened down an eight-foot embankment.
Both of them were injured in the crash. She was unconscious and when she came to, had no feeling in her legs. She was airlifted to U of M Hospital. He had less serious injuries including a broken wrist. Both were extremely lucky to be alive. It is now two days later and by the Grace of God, she is able to now walk and they are both being released from the hospital later this week.
I'm writing this to tell the person who witnessed the horrible accident and drove on by them without stopping to help or call 911, that just in case you've been unable to sleep peacefully because of your lack of compassion and human decency, you will now know that those two very special people are alive and recovering and are to be married on Saturday - white dress, black tux, bruises, cast and all. Maybe this information will help ease your conscience.
Sleep well and if, God forbid, this should ever happen to one of your loved ones, pray that a witness doesn't pass them by and leave them for dead. Melissa A. Buie Milan
Comments
RoboLogic
Sat, Oct 2, 2010 : 1:34 p.m.
Consider this as well. Some people drive off... but call 911 as they are doing so. Personally, I would stop if I knew that I was possibly the only witness. Gotta be careful though. Just outside Adrian a year or two ago, a woman stopped to help a young man who drove his car off the road. He thanked her by carjacking her. He was eventually caught.
Bryan
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 11:27 a.m.
We know the driver saw the accident because there were 3 other bikes in front of the one that went off the road. When they realized that we were not behind them and stopped the driver of the car rolled their window down and said the last rider went off the road back there. Then they drove off.
Aaron Wolf
Sun, Aug 22, 2010 : 5:12 p.m.
Anyone not stopping to help as alleged is serious negligent! But how can you possibly say thanks to "Grace of God" for such a terrible tragedy?! If there were such an influence here it would have helped them avoid crashing entirely!
leaguebus
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 2:37 p.m.
Of course this was published in the opinion area of the web site. Meaning its like a letter to the editor in the old AA News?
SemperFi
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 1:02 p.m.
I've got to agree with some of our notable posters... How does Ms Buie know that there was a witness that drove by the accident and purposefully decided to not help? Clearly, some valuable information was left out of this OpEd. On a sympathetic note, I'm glad that the crash victims are healing. On a practical note, slow down on your motorcycle and keep it under control.
pragmatic
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 11:58 a.m.
Good thing for the Michigan motorcycle helmet law or there would be no wedding at all but a funeral.
Lokalisierung
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 11:42 a.m.
Give the driver the benifit of the doubt, they were probably texting and didn't notice anything.
5c0++ H4d13y
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 8:57 a.m.
Some people are actually afraid to stop. Some think motorcyclists are dangerous people. http://www.gearupproject.org/
help_is_on_the_way
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 8:42 a.m.
Yeah, I have to agree that it is a little bit of a rant. On a personal note, a friend and I were on a motorcycle trip down south I hit the pavement on a wet and oily (and busy) intersection and the only help I received was from my friend who was riding with me. Thankfully I was only bruised from it but no one stopped to even block traffic for me/us while I was getting my battered bike to the curb or to even see if I was ok. It makes me sad to say this but don't ever expect someone to stop and help.
jcj
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 8:22 a.m.
There are some very indifferent people on this earth! However it is hard to believe that someone actually witnessed this and did not call authorities. More than likely did not actually see anything or did and called authorities. No proof of wrongdoing here legally or morally.
YpsiLivin
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 7:42 a.m.
Sunset occurred at 8:37 pm in Milan on that day. It's entirely plausible that a person or persons in the vicinity of the accident simply didn't see what happened based on the amount of available light at that time. Not too long ago, there was an after-dark roll-over accident literally at the end of my driveway. I heard the accident but it was not until the unconscious driver accidentally hit the brake pedal and lit up the car's back bumper that I realized I was looking directly at the underside of the vehicle. Don't assume anyone saw anything. Motorcycles are hard enough to see during the day, much less at night and down an 8-foot embankment.
kulse012
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 7:34 a.m.
Got Slander? The alleged actions of the driver may be 100% true. However, you need something called proof in this country to back up claims. Do we have any from a non-biased witness? Otherwise, this letter carries little weight.
clark
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 7:32 a.m.
I'm glad your nephew and his fianc are doing OK. Having said that, I find the animosity towards this mysterious witness a bit misplaced. First off, there's no "duty to act" law in Michigan for an unrelated bystander, and while there is a Good Samaritan law, one of the provisions is that a rescuer may not exceed his/her level of medical training. If, like most of the general population, you have no training at all, things get considerably more ambiguous. For example, people helped to their feet by a clueless bystander after a wreck have been paralyzed for life because of a spinal injury that could have been prevented by taking two minutes to put on a c-collar. And of course, the rest of it is just details. How do you know this person witnessed the crash at all? I'm a pretty alert driver, but driving down a rural road at night it's difficult to keep track of where every other car came from and went to. It sounds like this was a pretty fast, single vehicle incident, after which they weren't visible from the road, being down in that 8-foot ravine. Could have been easily missed or mistaken for turning into a driveway, especially from far away. Single vehicle crashes are pretty undramatic to watch (especially from a distance) and aren't very common, so most people have never seen one happen (except on TV, of course). And lastly, assuming they did see the crash, how do you know this witness didn't call 911? Obviously somebody did, since your son and fiance were rescued. When I witness an accident, I don't waste time telling the victim I'm calling for assistance. I make the call. Maybe the witness intended to call, but then realized he didn't have cell service. Or left his phone at home. There's so many possibilities here that I feel really uncomfortable seeing somebody criticized for inaction without knowing all the details.
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 6:37 a.m.
how do you know what this alleged witness actually saw?