# Shoes at accident scenes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 13, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827 "2004-07-13T01:43:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827/1 "2004-07-13T01:43:09Z")

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I’ve noticed on our local news that almost every time theres an accident, there’s a shot of a single shoe near the area where the commotion is happening. Even if there was a kid bit by a dog or something, they show a shot of a shoe next to the police tape or flashing police light.

Do TV news vans just drive around with a stash of shoes in the van to throw into the pictures, or what? I can’t believe that EVERYONE in any sort of accident gets knocked out of their shoes.

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**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827/2 "2004-07-13T01:47:55Z")

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Watch or read _The Shipping News_. It supposedly has a emotional impact with the viewer, so it is often standard fare for photos/videos. I doubt they are staged.

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**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827/3 "2004-07-13T02:09:32Z")

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> [@UncleBill](#):
>
> Watch or read _The Shipping News_. It supposedly has a emotional impact with the viewer, so it is often standard fare for photos/videos. I doubt they are staged.

I think that’s what put the idea in my head. Ever since I read that (although I was thinking it was in a different book) I really started to notice ALL THE SHOES. They can’t all possibly be original to the scene/accident.

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**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827/4 "2004-07-13T02:16:04Z")

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Shoes coming off from an impact is quite common. That’s why parachute troops wore those high, lace-up boots. So they wouldn’t lose them when the parachute opened.

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**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-at-accident-scenes/254827/5 "2004-07-13T07:51:44Z")

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In a British comedy of the nineties (Drop the Dead Donkey) an amoral reporter regularly did such things- carried children’s shoes or dolls or teddy bears, dropped them on the ground and then had himself videod while he gave an emotional to camera piece- won him awards! It was suggested that this was based on real incidents but may be an urban legend.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/d/dropthedeaddonke\_7772455.shtml](http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/d/dropthedeaddonke_7772455.shtml)