Would you stop?

[Kies]

I stopped on the North Circular road at the jct of the M11 when 3 motorbikes overtook me doing 80+ mph on a 50 speed limit section.
A lorry cut one up and they all ended up on the floor. As no one behind I parked my car bridging the centre line,hazards flashing and got out of the car to wave drivers behind me down. Call ambulance and police.
All young riders and pretty shaken but thankfully not badly hurt

 

[TheDoctor]

Too right I'd stop. It's the decent thing to do.

 

[laurence]

yes, i'd stop.

 

[asterix]

Spotted a story in the local rag about a guy who came off his motorbike during rush hour and was trapped beneath it for ten minutes until someone stopped: "I was so scared I was going to be left there because I could not shout or move and it was getting dark..."

So my question is this: if you spotted someone in trouble, would you stop to help or continue on your way?

Yes. Always have done.

Must admit I got it wrong on a sportive when on a wild, windy and wet hillside I fixed someone's broken chain. He clearly regarded bike maintenance as beneath him and the bike was a wreck! Should have left him there as a lesson.

Another time in France I stopped but was waved away, I worked out later that he was looking for his sunglasses that must fallen off and was too embarrassed to say.

Then there was the female driver whose broken down car I pushed out of the road but kept the doors locked and windows shut so I don't know if she was grateful! Must have that effect on people. I left her to it and carried on to work.

Have rescued at least 3 boats at sea, one was a motor craft who hailed us with a broken engine. We towed him home but our auxiliary wasn't man enough to go fast so we motor-sailed, explaining why we had to tack as we went. He was grateful. Also picked some inebriates out of the water when they fell out of their tender getting into their boat. Later that week the newspapers ran a story when they ran aground on a golf course on the Dutch coast.

Have never had to give serious first aid but I could if I had to.

 

[Spinney]

We've assisted a bloke in a sailing dingy who was not making headway into a strong wind. We gave him a tow to shore.

We were in kayaks!

 

[MisterStan]

I have stopped before (had to block a roundabout with my car) as a motorcyclist had hit a patch of diesel and slid off in front of me. Traffic behind didn't appreciate me 'holding them up' - they probably didn't appreciate my language or hand gestures either, but hey ho!

 

[Boris Bajic]

We all say we'd stop. I say I would. The evidence suggests that some might not.

I was pinned under my motorcycle when I was a courier (on Minories near Tower Bridge). Not a crash, I just missed the side stand with my heel and it flumped over on me, bruising my knee on the kerb. I was there for a couple of minutes before a very smartly suited chap jogged over and lifted the bike off me. It was only a V50, but the way I was lying and with the kerb digging into my leg, I just couldn't move much. He probably got slightly grubby, but I was HUGELY grateful. I also felt a complete idiot. I don't think the people who walked by were heartless; I probably just looked slightly surreal, like an upturned turtle.

Scarily, a cycling friend of mine once endoed on a big hill and slashed his forehead open (before I knew him, but the scar is still there). He was gushing blood and his pal flagged down a car. The driver couldn't take him to hospital as he was running late for Church. True dat. He 9the rider was OK in the end. Just lost some blood. The culprit? The lamp bracket on his fork rotated and stopped the wheel. That dates the story, doesn't it?

But as above... we all say we'd stop, but the evidence for mankind is less kind.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I stopped for a car crash a few years ago. While all the other traffic scattered pedestrians from the roadside trying to get round, I organised the scene, got the people out, called the cops etc...
I can't understand why people are selfish enough to not band together and help these days.

 

[Bryony]

I'd stop i couldn't just leave someone in need.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Absolutely would have stopped and have done so several times in the past as recently as last weekend! Last Saturday my OH and I saw a motorcylist come off his bike trying to go round a roundabout too fast in the rain - think he probably caught a grid going by his line and just lost the rear end. We were 200m away when it happened. Out of the 5 vehicles around, only 1 did not stop despite the fact that the guy was back on his feet within a minute - embarrassed more than anything else.

I have also deliberately blocked the A3 in the morning rush hour using my car as a sheild to protect a motorcyclist who went down in front of me (many years ago now). Caused mayhem on the A3 & A31 for several hours (where the incident occurred), but I still don't care. A human life is far more important than a traffic jam! Thankfully his only injuries were a broken arm.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I'd stop and have done in the past. I've been fortunate not to have come across anything as serious as this but I think that would make me more likely to stop and help, not less.

 

[steve52]

no question yes without hesitation

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

As an ex motorcyclist - I would absolutely stop

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I would and have.

 

[swansonj]

Have stopped and have been stopped for where human injuries are involved. But this summer I was off camping in the car with my daughter when I came across two women in a car who had clearly just hit a deer. Deer was lying twitching, one of the women looked upset. I made a snap decision not to stop, partly because I didn't have a clue what to do - call the police? Ask directory inquiries for a vet? Put it out of its misery?, partly because there were two of them, and partly because I was reticent about the implications of assuming that females automatically need the help of some random passing male. I now think I made the wrong decision and I feel guilty for it, but I still don't know what I'd have done if I had stopped.