Kicking myself, what should i have done?
Discussion
On the way home from work today on the A48 into Cardiff and on the other side of the road there was a young guy (about 20) stood right on the edge of the bridge (over the handrail dangling over the edge) above the roaring rush hour traffic.
I called 999 straight away and they said they had already been notified and were enroute.
Its just when I was closer to home I wish I would have gone around the round about to come back the other way (side of the road he was on), pulled into the middle of the road with hazards on (only 2 lanes) and stopped the traffic.
I am sitting here now not knowing if he jumped or not and thinking I could have helped save a life if he did.
However it would have involved me single-handedly bringing a motorway to a complete holt, in rush hour.
Thoughts?
Would people of stopped and understood or try to barge past while swearing at me?
Hope he didnt jump!
I called 999 straight away and they said they had already been notified and were enroute.
Its just when I was closer to home I wish I would have gone around the round about to come back the other way (side of the road he was on), pulled into the middle of the road with hazards on (only 2 lanes) and stopped the traffic.
I am sitting here now not knowing if he jumped or not and thinking I could have helped save a life if he did.
However it would have involved me single-handedly bringing a motorway to a complete holt, in rush hour.
Thoughts?
Would people of stopped and understood or try to barge past while swearing at me?
Hope he didnt jump!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Don't beat yourself up.
Yes I would like to think I would have behaved in exactly the way you describe and talked the chap down but in reality I'd prob not responded that quickly to have saved the situation.
I certainly wouldn't have worried about holding up the traffic, this appears to have been a life on the brink but also think of the poor totally innocent car/lorry/van driver or motorcyclist :-( that might have been the poor unfortunate soul/s to live with the that mans death......... and he could well have taken more than just his own life....
Hopefully the young man came to his sences and is getting the help he needs.
Don't beat yourself up.
Yes I would like to think I would have behaved in exactly the way you describe and talked the chap down but in reality I'd prob not responded that quickly to have saved the situation.
I certainly wouldn't have worried about holding up the traffic, this appears to have been a life on the brink but also think of the poor totally innocent car/lorry/van driver or motorcyclist :-( that might have been the poor unfortunate soul/s to live with the that mans death......... and he could well have taken more than just his own life....
Hopefully the young man came to his sences and is getting the help he needs.
Whilst I agree with the comments above to a degree and keeping the hard shoulder (assuming there was one) open is vital, I would have no problem stopping traffic rather than having a man throw himself in front of an unsuspecting motorist.
If you are coming back down the carriage way seeing the bridge ahead it is easy to indicate to other drivers that there is a hazzard ahead and when you have slowed everyone down and then stop the traffic, asking other motorists to go back up the hard shoulder, on foot, to ensure that everyone is aware of the hazard ahead stops an accident.
OK I did it for a dog which many people will think is silly but it could have caused a serious RTA............
If you are coming back down the carriage way seeing the bridge ahead it is easy to indicate to other drivers that there is a hazzard ahead and when you have slowed everyone down and then stop the traffic, asking other motorists to go back up the hard shoulder, on foot, to ensure that everyone is aware of the hazard ahead stops an accident.
OK I did it for a dog which many people will think is silly but it could have caused a serious RTA............
Famous Graham said:
I got the impression the OP was talking about clearing the traffic *below* so if the guy jumped, he didn't take anyone else with him.
This, he was on the bridge above, I just wanted to stop the traffic so if he did jump he would only have a broken leg at most, (was only at 20footish drop).
Trust me typing as someone who got crashed into at 70mph at the side of a duel carriageway (was under the bonnet fixing a throttle cable) you won't believe how little attention some people pay at that speed on that type of road. Like the guy who crashed into me (bank holiday, roads dead as it were)..on way home from work, long day...zoned out..boom.
d and go slash his wrists somewhere rather than taking someone else down with him.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff