Posted: 9/15/2010 9:12:01 AM EDT
|
I did something really stupid the other night that folks should take a lesson from my mistake.
Some back story first..... I live in a pretty rural area of Louisa County on a 2 lane US Hwy. My house sits in a blind bend in the road and most of my property is either level or about 10-12 feet below road grade and I have about 800 feet of road frontage. The area of my property that is below road grade has about a 75 degree steep hill that borders the road. It is an accidnert prone area alone due to the bilind curve especially in bad weather. Now for the actual story. I was woken up at 2AM by sqeeling tires and a large boom. Immediately the dog goes crazy and starts barking his head off. My window looks out on a barn on my property and I see it being lit up bright as day with light coming from the other end of my property. I knew immediatley that someone had run off the road and was ssitting in the bottom on my property down the grade. I jump out of bed grab my cell phone and run out of the house turning on my property lights. Now I am running down the car which is sitting up right and doesn't appear to be moving, and is smoking like a forest fire. Meanwhile I dial up 911. All I am thinking is crap someone is hurt and I get the 911 dispacher on the line and start giving info to her. I get down to the car and there is a guy that is out and walking around the vehicle and talking on cell phone. I ask if he is alright and find out he has a speech impediment and it appears he may be deaf. He tries motioning that he swerved to miss a deer but he smells like a brewery and I notice empty beer cans on the drivers side floor boards. I relay all this to the dispacher which he appears to notice and start pleading to hang up. I tell him to sit down that he might be hurt and to wait for the ambulance and local LEO. When he realizes I am not hanging up he jumps back in his vehicle. He attempts to drive it a few feet almost running me over in the process then figures he ain't going anywhere as he start to sink in to soft ground with two blown tires. He reverses back up to end of my property does a 180 turn and drives off up the neighbors drive and back onto the highway smoking , sqeeling and draggin parts. He can't go any faster than maybe 10 MPH at this point. All during this I am on th phone with the dispatcher giving a play by play and the license plate and make and model of the vehiicle. She tells me it maybe a few minutes before the deputy gets there and that she will have him call me when they get they guy. Few minutes later a deputy and VSP fly buy in pursuit. I sit down on my porch to wait for the deputy. Now a funny thing is about 5 mintutes later a car drives by the house and suddenly slows down as it goes by the house and the area where the dipshit went off the road. Went about 500 yards past my property and pulled into a driveway sat there a minute then pulled out and went on down the road. I think thiswas some buddies of his e had called to come get him. About 30 mintues later another deputy rolls up gets out, looks around, takes some pictures gets my info and a run down of what happened. He tells me that the guys was deaf but that they caught him a few miles up the road. I finallly ended up geting to sleep about 4AM. However, this is what really bothers me about this whole thing and kept me up the rest of the night. I put myself in danger and didn't relilze it till after the fact. I responded to the situtation without being armed and realiized after fact realized that if the dipshit panicked he could have very well run me down with his vehicle. I left the house in my gym shorts and t-shirt with no weapon. This really din't sink in till after I laid in bed a few minutes and had one of those Oh Shit that guy could have killed me moments. Not only hta but who knows who was in the other vehicle and what thye planned on doing. My lesson is that I will never, ever leave the house again without being armed to respond to accidents on my property. Even if that takes a few more minutes while I get dressed. I just won't ever take that risk again. Sorry for the ramble but this has been troubling me siince the other night and figured I would share my lesson with the hometown group so that someone doesn't make the same mistake I did. |
| That is a good lession and its one Im sure we all have learned in some way shape or form. The good thing is no one was hurt and they got the guy. The other really good thing is you thought of someone else besides your own safty most wouldnt do that much from my experince. |
| Yes, please be more careful when confronting any unknown person on your property. Having grown-up in Philly, PA and lived in the DC Metro Area for many years this just comes naturally. Can you petition the county or state goverment to construct a barrier to keep the cars from driving onto your property at the most dangerous spots on the road? |
| Unless I'm in my office or someplace where a gun is prohibited by law, I am never unarmed, including in my home. I sleep with a pistol on the night stand and a 12 gauge against the wall. Your advice is good, but take it one step further. Whether I know I'm walking into potential conflict or not, I assume conflict could find me anywhere, as evidenced by the dude who was killed in his home over a speed bump. |
|
Quoted:
Can you petition the county or state goverment to construct a barrier to keep the cars from driving onto your property at the most dangerous spots on the road? Good luck on getting anything from Louisa County. If it doesn't financially benefit someone in the Louisa County government, you won't get it. That place has what is probably the most corrupt local government in Virginia. |
So my neighbor called last night to find out what happened and he tells me oh yeah I heard the crash and looked out my window and saw the lights down there but he didn't want to come out and went back to sleep. 
I guess most people either run away from or avoid calamity. Guess I was raised different. Anyway I am always armed and do keep weapons ready in various places in my home for invasion situations but response instinct took over to respond to an accident scene wihout realizing I wasn't fully prepared. Won't make that mistake again. And no guard rails aren't an option since it would hinder my ability to put up a fence along the bank in the future and well I am a strong believer in Darwin theory in situations such as this. Actually kind of disappointed the shitbird wasn't injured or maimed but it always seems like drunks walk away while others involved don't. 
|
|
Tough to think straight when you first wake up.
You heard what you knew to be a car crash and were thinking about helping another person rather then about your own safety. Just remember to become old and wise first we have to survive being young and stupid. Learn from your mistakes, and thanks for sharing. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Can you petition the county or state government to construct a barrier to keep the cars from driving onto your property at the most dangerous spots on the road? Good luck on getting anything from Louisa County. If it doesn't financially benefit someone in the Louisa County government, you won't get it. That place has what is probably the most corrupt local government in Virginia. I recently moved here and am going to start attending local council meetings. Can you get me up to speed on what to expect? |
|
Quoted:
Am I the only one that notices "he's deaf" and "talking on a cell phone".....or am/did I miss something.  I have a deaf friend. He can easily communicate with words to nondeaf people, just has a hard time understanding you unless he is reading your lips. Possibility that he may have text messages someone also. |