Oh yeah, I’ve done stuff like that too. But none of those vehicles was decorated with a human corpse either.
I was just thinking how I personally would react if I happened to notice a body dangling from a vehicle in New York City. I think three possibilites would immediately spring to mind:
A hoax or prank, along the lines of those “sleeve/bloody hand” novelty gags that people hang out of the car trunk. Sure, this one is much more elaborate; but hey, it’s New York. Maybe it’s a stunt by one of those morning radio shock DJ’s.
Someone is driving around without realizing that they have a corpse stuck to their vehicle. I should be a good Samaritan and let them know about it.
THe driver actually does know that they have a corpse stuck to their vehicle, which means that I’m witnessing some sort of freaked-out gangland execution or psycho killer rampage.
By the time I’d worked out which alternative is most likely and what course of action to take, the other driver might be long gone in the traffic. Which means I’d probably just wind up calling 911 anyway. It’s not the sort of unexpected situation that I’m prepared to evaluate effectively on the drive to work.
I read some report off Fark that said the driver of the van was upset when he figured out what was going on, but police said he also looked utterly exhausted. So he may have been in some kind of “zone” and driving while really fatigued.
And cars honking at you in New York City? I’ve driven there a few times and you get desensitized to that pretty fast.
Hey, I can totally understand that. I’d probably be so flustered by what I was seeing that, it would take me a minute or two to figure out what the heck to do. Unless the guy was right in front of me so I could follow, I’d probably just end up sitting in traffic going “Holyfuckwhattheheckizzzat?!? Uh, 911! 911!”
If I started beeping my horn and flashing my lights to get his attention, he probably think that I was a road-raging lunatic and just peel out of there.
I think it might be pretty hard to stop him. At least from a pedestrian’s point of view, you’d have to see him from behind to notice the body. That means that the driver would be facing the other way a putting distance between you. It’s pretty hard to catch someone like that.
Of course, one could call 911. Assuming one was not too busy saying “Uh… Did I just see that? Naw, couldn’t be.”
Sounds like in that case the driver was aware of what he had done. In the OP, he seems to have been unaware.
To the OP: Please link to the source when you’re posting an article. Not that I am doubting its authenticity but I want to see where it comes from, plus it’s just good form.