Yelling at someone who already has had their day ruined solves a lot.
Another driving thread where I can feel smug for doing the right thing. Only ever had one minor accident and moved car off the road to exchange details. 
(Btw here in China fuggedaboutit. People may stop in the middle of the road to take a call, let alone after an accident. If bad driving upsets you, never visit here).
On my way from home there’s a big bottleneck in a major road that goes over a freeway. It gets very busy and the backup is at least half a mile in both directions waiting on the lights that get people over the road and onto the on ramps. I finally made it onto the bridge over the freeway and I’m in the left hand lane. The light changes and I’m not going to make it on the freeway this time(nor are about three people in front of me, so it’s not like I had a choice). So I stop, not short, just a normal stop. Crunch, I get rear-ended. I put my hazards on and a few minutes later the light changes. I pull through the light and off to the side along the shoulder of the on-ramp for the freeway. The person who hit me? They breeze right on past.
In the future I’m at least going to hold up traffic while I step out and take a couple pics of the car and license plate and driver, and probably say “hey, let’s pull off up there and exchange info.” Because if I had just stayed put I could have wrecked a bunch of people’s day, but I could have gotten them to take responsibility for what they had done instead of just giving up all the leverage I had in the name of being less inconvenient for everyone else.
Enjoy,
Steven
Would you like more recent cites from more official sources? How about Missouri now?
Laws are different in different states, and even in different cities in some states.
What do you think “Move your vehicle if it may cause other drivers to have an accident” means?
Your link is from the Missouri Department of Revenue.
I see your link, and raise you the Missouri Traffic Regulations, Section 304.151.1:
So, if there’s no injury or death, move your damn car or get a ticket.
The Missouri DOT calls this program Steer It and Clear it (PDF).
Also:
I work in a 9-1-1 center and deal with accidents every day. We even have a CCTV system in our community so I can see many of the accidents at major intersections where the cameras are. We can see how bad it is, or isn’t, in many such MVAs.
And still some people refuse to move their vehicle once it has been determined that leaving it in place is not required.
Really. We know the requirements. And if I tell you to move your vehicle you have a rock solid reason to fall back on should anyone challenge that decision. And I’ve never in ten years had a police officer complain that I told someone to move a vehicle that shouldn’t have been moved.
Sec. 550.022. ACCIDENT INVOLVING DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the operator of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting only in damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person shall:
(1) immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close as possible to the scene of the accident without obstructing traffic more than is necessary;
(2) immediately return to the scene of the accident if the vehicle is not stopped at the scene of the accident; and
(3) remain at the scene of the accident until the operator complies with the requirements of Section 550.023.
(b) If an accident occurs on a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median, or adjacent area of a freeway in a metropolitan area and each vehicle involved can be normally and safely driven, each operator shall move the operator’s vehicle as soon as possible to a designated accident investigation site, if available, a location on the frontage road, the nearest suitable cross street, or other suitable location to complete the requirements of Section 550.023 and **minimize interference with freeway traffic.
**
© A person commits an offense if the person does not stop or does not comply with the requirements of Subsection (a). An offense under this subsection is:
(1) a Class C misdemeanor, if the damage to all vehicles is less than $200; or
(2) a Class B misdemeanor, if the damage to all vehicles is $200 or more.
(c-1) A person commits an offense if the person does not comply with the requirements of Subsection (b). An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
(d) In this section, a vehicle can be normally and safely driven only if the vehicle:
(1) does not require towing; and
(2) can be operated under its own power and in its usual manner, without additional damage or hazard to the vehicle, other traffic, or the roadway.
Sec. 550.023. DUTY TO GIVE INFORMATION AND RENDER AID…
{ Bolding and color mine}*
The jist seems to be Stay, Render Aid, then Minimize Interference Safely.
Johnny Blaze was a WUSS!
So an entire generation of parents is willing to abdicate their responsibilities? “Wasn’t me, it was them thar newfangled video games and movies. Not my fault.”
You know, maybe I get why the next generation has such a sense of entitlement…they learned it from mom and dad!
Yeah, all the cites I see I think people are confusing “fleeing the scene” warnings or instructions with what the law actually says/what common sense is. No, do not “move your car” 40 miles away to avoid the police. Yes, move your car out of a situation in which it’s a safety hazard (a car blocking a roadway is inherently a safety hazard.)
I don’t think three astronauts who incinerated almost 50 years ago would be much help anyway.
Perhaps it will jolt them out of their self adsorption and get them to move the hell out of the way. Just because their day has been ruined doesn’t mean they get to ruin the days of thousands of others and potentially cause more accidents.
But it didn’t work in this case. The OP was ignored. Possibly because the yelling put the drivers backs to the wall and pissed, they decided not to pull over just out of spite because the other drivers were being jerks. Berating strangers in distress solves nothing.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Or possibly because the OP was yelling obscenities at them and most people know not to engage with road-ragey drivers yelling obscenities.
If the OP’s remarks had been along the lines of “Hey, are you folks okay? Good! I just wanted to let you know that you’re sitting at the bottom of a hill around a blind corner, so you should probably move your cars onto a side street or somebody else might come barreling along and hit you”, and they’d still been ignored, then I’d have a lot more sympathy with this rant.
At present, I’ve got it filed under “idiots annoy asshole and vice versa, sun rises in east, bears shit in woods”.
Fuck that shit. I took a good look at the scene; there was little to no damage to either vehicle. They were being morons for no good reason, and demonstrating they both had no regard for anyone else’s time or safety, including their own. You don’t get polite courtesy for that.
:rolleyes: It’s not a question of whether or which people deserve “polite courtesy”; it’s a question of what form of communication is most effective in achieving its object (and doesn’t make the communicator look like an asshole).
Your chosen form of communication was, by your own admission, completely ineffective, besides making you look like an asshole. Polite courtesy would have at least avoided the latter consequence, even if it succeeded no better in its main objective.
Nobody’s claiming that these two drivers weren’t in the wrong (or “being morons”, in your way of putting it). But the combination of morons plus asshole is not generally any improvement on morons alone.
“My ten second evaluation of the situation told me everything I needed to know, and acting like a decent human being was not required, thus I went full asshole instead, because THEY SLOWED ME DOWN!”
I know you won’t believe me, but 3/4 of that post was a Whoosh.
Of Course thats not happening. Sometimes I give cops credit for keeping a straight face when the curbstone Perry Masons are giving their accounts of very minor fender benders.
You or I would be thinking, “Oh-my-fucking-god. Its a car accident, not a Thesis.”
Now, if people are hurt its different, but I’d personally love to hear Loach put an estimate on what percentage of paint-scrape-only fender benders have people in them who are trying to make a Federal Case out of minor damage.
Move over Marbury vs Madison, this is Minivan vs Beater…!
minor hijack
Last month on the 101 S in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angelses, I was car number 6 when the 4 cars(with the same sorts of mixed peoples)
in front of me all rear ended each other, after a wondrous spell of 60 mph tailgating…(not me)
There were no injuries, just crunched fronts and backs…everyone pulled off to the fast lane side, if they could…or just sat there…the last car, probably wouldnt start, it seemed to have lots parts and glass come spraying off of it… so as Im digesting all this, all four doors open and four Latino me just get out and walk away,they didnt even look at the damage, or even look back…they just walked away, not fast, just cruised off, split up into two groups, crossed the on ramps etc and heading for the malls …:eek: They were dressed for a party, nice hats and such…
People were doing double takes…