Just Enough Redneck to Get the Job Done!

One day, Suzanne and I drove to Greenville, South Carolina, in the 1965 Ford Galaxy 500 that belonged to my father.  He had allowed me to drive it after we got married because he needed for us to have two cars. 

I drove it from the time I went to work for him until the day he died. Then, my mother sold it.  I loved that car.

I was driving and had just started out from a traffic light when a Pontiac Fiero pulled out in front of us and stopped.  I hit the brakes, but still ran into the back of the car.

It seems that the person driving the car was a salesman for the Pontiac dealership there in Greenville.  He had just taken delivery of the car, which was to be his demo car.

He decided to go get a pack of cigarettes as an excuse to drive his new car.  He explained that a Volkswagen pulled in front of him and stopped in the median, which kept him from being able to proceed.

We assessed the damage and saw that the rear of the Fiero no longer existed.  It had basically vaporized.  The bumper on the Galaxy was slightly bent and the name had been knocked off the fender. There were a few other cosmetic dings, but  the Galaxy was in good shape.

It was decided that since the Pontiac salesman was at fault, and that their insurance would have to pay for the repairs, we would allow their body shop to perform the repairs.

 After several weeks, my father called the dealership to find out why they had not finished with his car. Finally, they said we could come pick it up. 

So, Suzanne and I set out to pick up the car.  When we arrived, the body shop had already closed.  I told the service manager I was there to pick up the car and he told me I could not.  He said, “I don’t know how much you owe on it.”  I told him “We better not owe anything.”  He made a few phone calls and we got the car.

We left the dealership. Suzanne was driving our red 1982 Mercury Marquis and I followed her in the Galaxy.  We pulled on to Interstate 85 and headed south towards Anderson.

Shortly, a man started riding Suzanne’s bumper and generally being a nuisance.  He honked his horn and got right up on her bumper even closer.  I saw this and I said, “Not while I am driving this beast, you don’t.”

So, the 429 cubic inches of engine roared to life. I pulled into the fast lane and pulled up beside him.  Then, I proceeded to merge into his lane with him still in it, forcing him over onto the shoulder of the road.

He rode the shoulder for a little bit and then pulled off at the next exit.  I followed him.  I bumped his bumper and pushed him to the top of the off ramp and stopped at the stop sign. 

He sped through the stop sign never to be seen again. I pulled back on to I-85 and caught back up with Suzanne.  The “White Knight” had returned from the crusades and was back to protect his lady. 

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Emergency Call 911

Video posted with permission from the victim's family

Emergency Call 911

Tonight my family and I witnessed a vehicle that was in the last seconds of a wreck.  I placed two calls to 911.  The first call was placed at 3:57 AM to report the wreck. 

The second at 4:02 AM to report that there was a man trapped inside the vehicle.  During that second call, which lasted one minute and 24 seconds, the first Wharton County Sheriff’s deputy  arrived on the scene.

Obviously, time is bent by an emergency when someone is trapped inside a vehicle.  It seemed very much like it took twenty minutes or longer for the police officer to arrive.

I set up the video camera to record the rescue attempt.  There really would have been very little to post had it not been for one police deputy giving me the order to stay in one spot.

As a vlogger, I have all the rights associated with any other legitimate media. In short, as long as I am not interfering with the rescue or anything connected with it, I can record whatever I wish. According to federal law, as interpreted by numerous federal judges, I am covered by the First Amendment[i]. 

What we witnessed this morning was a waste of manpower and resources. With all the law enforcement and other personnel on the scene, not one person bothered to direct traffic even though both northbound lanes of traffic were blocked. What is normally a four-lane highway was reduced to two lanes.

The county deputies seemed to feel that merely blocking the northbound lanes with a car was adequate to control traffic.

You cannot hear it on the video due to traffic noise, but there was a great deal of joking and small talk going on while a man sat trapped inside his vehicle. This seemed unprofessional and callous.

After I put the video camera up, an off-duty deputy rolled up in his pickup truck.  He and another deputy exchanged jokes about the incident.  This exchange ended with the on-duty cop telling the off-duty cop he was going to arrest him for impersonating an officer.  The off-duty deputy drove off at high speed while the deputies on the scene laughed.

The Wharton County Sheriff is elected to office.  It would seem in a year with an upcoming election that all department personnel would attempt to put their best foot forward to improve the impression they make in the community.

We see often where the public has disdain for law enforcement.  This often comes from situations like this where a little decorum could be used.  Most people will go out of their way to comply with the wishes of someone else when the request comes politely.

I am very aware of the need for maintaining the dignity and privacy of others.  Law enforcement officers, EMS, and fire department personnel (whether paid or volunteer) give up their expectation of privacy when they sign up.

We would not have posted video of the man, we do know his name. In fact, we actually were able to video the stretcher as it passed by and get a view of the victim on video. 

In the case of volunteer organizations, the perception they create in the community very much affects their donations.  Would someone really wish to donate to an organization when its members crack jokes within earshot of a victim?  Should the general public think to donate to an organization that is supposed to put out fires when their members smoke cigarettes in the area of an accident where fuel has potentially been spilled?

I often say it takes a higher level of stupid to smoke while pumping fuel.  How much higher level of stupid is involved in smoking at the scene of an automobile accident where fuel could have been spilled?

Regardless of whether or not the presence of fuel is detected, it is wise to treat all accident scenes as if fuel fires are a potential. Or did that change since the 1970s and 1980s when I was an EMT and volunteer fireman? Does fuel now pose less of a threat than it did back then?

To all law enforcement officers out there: The general public’s opinion of you is deteriorating.  As this happens, your safety is put in jeopardy.  It would be wise to keep public sentiment on your side.  Remember, juries are made up from the general public.  If you were put on trial, it is not likely that you would draw a jury of all brothers in blue.

Whenever you come face-to-face with the public, remember that your job and safety is dependent on the general public.  Listen to their story as if you have never heard it before and not like you have heard it all before.  You may feel like you have heard it all before, but the person telling you this has probably never told it before. Each person deserves to be heard.

You may feel like asserting your authority over a situation is a way to maintain order.  In some circumstances, this is true.  In most circumstances, what is needed is someone to listen and to respond politely and properly.

As more and more people feel less like law enforcement cares, crime will go up and violence against law enforcement will increase.  It is just inevitable.

The only true professional on the scene was one Texas State Trooper.  We did not catch his last name, but his first name was Michael.  He came out of Bay City, Texas, to cover the accident.

City of Wharton, Texas

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[i]  First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 98S. Ct. 1407, 55 L. Ed. 2d 707 (1978). As reported by http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Freedom+of+the+Press

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