RCMP Staff Sgt. Jerry Nutbrown brings you behind the scenes with a serious of columns taking you behind police work and how it’s done in our community. If you have a question you think needs to be answered in Behind the Bison, send it to admin@borderpulse.ca and we will be sure to share it with him.
Recently I was on my way to work when I witnessed a collision. The vehicle in front of me collided
broadside with another vehicle pushing it into a third vehicle. Lloydminster experiences far too many
collisions.
At this collision scene there was good and bad. The good was seeing multiple people stop and get out to
assist those involved. People showed they cared and wanted to help.
The bad was seeing how some drivers drove in close proximity after the collision and that one assisting
witness yelled and swore at one of the drivers. More on this in a bit.
If you happen to come across a collision, please make sure you move your vehicle away from the scene.
Emergency service folks need a lot of room to do what they need to do. Keeping the path clear for them
to approach and then set up saves time and lessens the risk. If we have to take others not involved in
the collision into consideration, this distracts emergency personnel from focusing 100% on priority tasks.
If you left your vehicle in a driving lane with your flashers on to alert other drivers to the danger, once
emergency vehicles arrive, please safely move your vehicle away from the scene. If you are a witness to
the collision, please alert an emergency responder so that we can ensure to get your contact
information or possibly a statement right at the scene.
If you are someone who does not feel you can directly assist for one reason or another, you can still help
by calling 911 and provide details. If the collision is minor and the vehicles involved are driveable, please
move them out of the way of other vehicles to somewhere safe where you can share your information
with the other driver(s).
If any vehicles are disabled blocking traffic or there are injuries, then a call to 911 should be done
immediately. If a check on those involved can be done while another person calls 911, this would be
ideal. Safety for everyone at the collision should be the number one priority and this certainly includes
those that stop to assist. For other motorists, ‘rubber necking’ collisions is one of the highest risk actions
you can take around one. Focus on safely navigating the collision without risk to others.
I saw drivers driving in an unsafe manner after the collision as they looked upset to which I would guess
because it inconvenienced them. This is unfortunate as the three people involved now were having a
very bad day, including their respective families.
One motorist that stopped to help began yelling and swearing at one driver and this was absolutely
unnecessary. Drivers are quite often in shock and emergency staff need people as calm as possible to
best deal with the situation. Having to address this individual took my focus off more pertinent tasks as
the actions escalated rather than deescalated the situation.
That day, I was appreciative upon the first responder’s arrivals.
Read more: Behind the Bison – Police, Stop
