There was an accident this morning that closed all of inbound I-66 for a while, where a tractor-trailer carrying a load of tomatoes crashed, spilled its load, and caught on fire. When I first started reading the thread, I was picturing you creeping past that accident and yelling at the driver to move it over. 
Ten or more years ago I was the last (i.e. most forward) car in a five car collision in the fast lane on the 10 west of downtown L.A. (almost as far west as Crenshaw?). Most of the force was absorbed by the other cars, and there wasn’t a mark on mine visible with the naked eye, so I exchanged my info with the car behind me and went home. Later that night the CHP called. Yikes! They’d expected me to hang around until they got there. California law says the initiator of the collision was the responsible party, so I hadn’t any liability, but since I had no damage I figured I could go. Wrong.
Also, it was an incredible cliché of participants. I’m a white woman. I was tapped by a Jewish guy in a Beemer. He was hit by a black guy in a Caddy. Who was hit by an rusted out Chevy with four Latino guys in it. And the originator for the whole chain of events was a guy with a Middle Eastern name.
I got stuck on 35 just Saturday, because someone decided to change the tire on his boat trailer. In the left lane.
Then Sunday was a trucker taking a field sobriety test while his truck and trailer were angled across the freeway, blocking all but half a lane and the shoulder. In his defense, you could see the tracks where he went down into the median and almost up on the wrong side of the road, so it might have been a good thing he stopped where he did.
Wasn’t this a movie a few years back? 
Was it? I wouldn’t be surprised!
I, too, was taught to leave the cars as they are, unless there’s some imminent danger such that the prudent thing to do would be to move them. A traffic jam doesn’t really count. I could very well be wrong on that, but I haven’t been able to find an official text one way or another for my state.
They were raised by video games and movies.
I honestly suspect some of you were taught something you’ve since forgotten. I think the standard has always been that if it’s safe to move your car out of traffic you should do so. Moving off the road way as a blocked car is actually far safer than being parked, functionally, in the middle of the street. It creates traffic jams, adds the risk of follow-on accidents it high speed vehicles slam into yours not realizing it’s a stopped car, the consequent traffic jam makes it harder for emergency vehicles to respond to emergencies.
Basically I find it hard to imagine any time at which the standard education offered was to just leave your car in the middle of the road and not move. I’m wondering if people are misremembering and were taught something akin to “stay in your car if you can’t safely move or are injure” or something like that, which is a different concept.
Straight from the beaver’s mouth (meaning Oregon Dep’t of Transportation):
"If you have a traffic accident or collision, you must:
Stop at Once - Stop at the accident scene or as close as possible without needlessly blocking or endangering other traffic. “Hit and run” is a serious traffic crime. Conviction will mean your driving privileges will be revoked or suspended.
Render Aid - Give any reasonable aid to injured persons. Remember, injured people should never be moved carelessly. In many cases, they should not be moved at all until it is possible to get an ambulance or someone trained in first aid to the scene. If a driver is involved in an accident in which a person is killed or rendered unconscious, the driver is required to remain at the scene of the accident until a police officer arrives. Failure to do so is classified and punishable as a “hit and run.”
Exchange Information - Give to the other driver, passengers in the vehicle, or any injured pedestrian your: Name; Address; Driver license number; License plate number of your vehicle; and Your insurance information.
Report the Accident to DMV
What the fuck, you’ve got WAY too many police if they have time to investigate fucking traffic accidents …
California tells you to get the car out of the lanes at the DMV’s website, on roadside signs here and there, and now and then they’ll put the message out on the changeable message boards when they’re not warning about things like “Click it or ticket” and the odd Amber Alert.
Move your vehicle out of the traffic lane if no one is injured or killed.
Wah? I got my license in the 80s, and it was made clear to all of us to get the fuck out of the way unless someone is dying. In fact, our rule of thumb was that anything less than $2000 (and this was 30 years ago) wasn’t even worth waiting for the cops. Just exchange info and report to insurance company, since they would just assign fault to the one who did the hitting.
I fully support this pitting. I have also yelled at people blocking all of god damned 93 because they have a dented bumper. I have also yelled to a cop to “get them out of the fucking road”
These poor bastards.
Even though it was a minor collision, and yes they should have pulled to the side, were probably upset about the damage and nervous about what to do next.
So I’m SURE the #1 thing they were hoping for was some Neanderthal passerby berating them from a car window because they lost a whole 30 seconds of time from their accident.
What a big help the OP is. The next time I need a helping hand and moral support, I won’t be calling you.
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Yup, here in CA it isn’t worth one’s life to leave a car in traffic lanes. I haven’t had an accident but flat tires and one car that liked to just die whenever, my first response is to head for the shoulder.
Next time I’m stuck in traffic for any time at all, (but it will probably be the 30+* minutes* it usually is) I’ll remember you being more worried about minor damage than getting the hell out of the way.
That’s idiotic. It’s right there in the title. Leaving the scene. It doesn’t say no moving the car. The leaving the scene statute in my state specifically says that you have to stop at the scene but “Every such stop shall be made without obstructing traffic more than is necessary.”
Obstructing traffic does count.
I’ll grant you that it says that in 1968. I the other two cites are about ambulance chasers worried about suing over your minor fender bender. But I assure you the first the any cop will do is make you get out of the road. Unless someone is dead no pictures or measurements will be made. I’ve had people argue with me when if I get there in a detective car and I tell them to get off the road and wait for patrol.
I have to agree
Let’s imagine you were in an accident in the middle lane of an otherwise low traffic highway, perhaps late at night. Maybe a minor lane change paint swap. Would you stop right there, just waiting for someone to come along at 75mph?
And a traffic jam does count. If nobody’s injured, then at most we’re talking tens of thousands in likely insured damage. But as pointed out upthread, billions in economic loss.
In some places calling 911 is the only way you can call the police. You have to get a police report for insurance.
Also, in some balkanized suburbs, even if there’s a non-emergency line to a dispatcher you’d need a chartered surveyor to tell you which non-emergency number to call as there’s a different police department every 200 feet.
Where I live, there are “Accident Investigation Sites”, basically an area to pull off the main road, and protected by a concrete barrier. Stopping on the highway itself is generally a really bad idea.
Read for comprehension, doofus.
Is the OP supposed to drive to where you live after being in an accident?