Did I do the right thing?

hyperborean

Do the right thing and report it now,

gramar

KeithTS wrote: »

Just out of interest, how did his mate react?

His mate was alright, he kept his cool but obviously embarrassed that his friend had gotten into this state. He didn't berate him there and then but it wouldn't have helped given the state his friend was in. I hope he'll take him to one side and make sure he realises he seriously fúcked up.

Esoteric_

Op, I just noticed you said you're going to ring him and see if he's
remorseful or not.
Who gives a fcuk if he's remorse or not?! Should muggers and rapists be let off scot free if they realise they made a mistake and feel rubbish about it?

Ffs, do the right thing and report it today. I hate attitudes like this.

Drkitkat

Reporting it now, would be a bit sneaky. You could also potentially get yourself in trouble. You acted as you thought fit at the time, just leave it at that.

Havermeyer

Drkitkat wrote: »

Reporting it now, would be a bit sneaky. You could also potentially get yourself in trouble. You acted as you thought fit at the time, just leave it at that.

Is that you, one armed bandit? :-D

gramar

Reporting it now wouldn't really change anything would it? Would it even be followed up? No-one is going to deny that the right thing to do was call straight away but I saw the situation first hand and took the decision I took. It's completely hypocritical because I don't drink and drive and certainly don't condone it and I can think of at least two times over the years where I have helped to wrestle car keys off someone who had too much to drink and wanted to drive.

Esoteric_

You won't know if reporting it would be any use unless you REPORT IT.

Clandestine

No
Report it, right now.

The next time it might not be a ditch he goes into, it might be a person....

The Backwards Man

gramar wrote: »

Reporting it now wouldn't really change anything would it? Would it even be followed up? No-one is going to deny that the right thing to do was call straight away but I saw the situation first hand and took the decision I took. It's completely hypocritical becausfRe I don't drink and drive and certainly don't condone it and I can think of at least two times over the years where I have helped to wrestle car keys off someone who had too much to drink and wanted to drive.

Well, they won't get him on a drink drive charge, but a couple of guards coming round his house for a word wouldn't do any harm, would it?

Odysseus

OP you did the right thing in seeing if anyone needed help or medical treatment. As to the reporting aspect well that is for you and you alone to decide.

Reporting it now will not achieve a thing, it cannot be established if the person was intoxicated.

All you can do is learn from your experience and hope you respond in a way that sits with your morals if you encounter a similar situatiion again.

Cody Pomeray

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Too many people have the Ah shure it was grand .

Who? Not anybody on this thread....

I don't think "it was grand" but I would have done the same as the OP.

Maybe the OP was wrong but I don't think I would have called the Gardaí either. It's not even something I think would have occurred to me to do, if I came across this man. I'd probably make sure he was embarrassed about it the next day, but I wouldn't have reported it.

KeithTS

Odysseus wrote: »

As to the reporting aspect well that is for you and you alone to decide.

Is it though?
Surely there is some responsibility on all of us to report such things?

None of us here have a right to bitch and moan about the state of the place or people going out killing others when driving drunk if we don't assume some responsibility to do the right thing in these situations.

We all have our place in keeping the roads safe and reporting things like this is pretty integral to that I'd imagine.

kylith

I'm with the rest, OP, you should have shopped him. Even just calling an ambulance, which in fairness you should have done after coming across an accident where the person involved is in no state to tell you if they're ok, would have done the trick.

Odysseus

KeithTS wrote: »

Is it though?
Surely there is some responsibility on all of us to report such things?

None of us here have a right to bitch and moan about the state of the place or people going out killing others when driving drunk if we don't assume some responsibility to do the right thing in these situations.

We all have our place in keeping the roads safe and reporting things like this is pretty integral to that I'd imagine.

I think not, it is up to the subject to decide in my opinion. In the course of my work I learn of many crimes which I can't report, in my private life it is up to me to respond as I see fit.

At the end of the day I am the one who has to live with the decision. In cases like this it is very easy to look objectively at events and say I would have acted this way.

However, when the situation is occuring things can happen so fast, people can experience shock and only after when they have time to reflect, they see the other options that they should or should not have taken.

That is why first responders train and train and train over and over again; because in these situation few people think straight.

As to reporting, I have found that the decision to report is not as easy as some may like to think it is. I have made many reports over the years, there are also cases where I did not report for various reasons, these have included my own safety and that of others.

At the end of the day for me inanyway it is a personal decision but one the individual should take personal responsibility for.

gramar

kylith wrote: »

I'm with the rest, OP, you should have shopped him. Even just calling an ambulance, which in fairness you should have done after coming across an accident where the person involved is in no state to tell you if they're ok, would have done the trick.

The first thing I was going to do was call the ambulance as when I saw him almost fall out of the car I thought he was concussed and I had the phone in my hand. He insisted he was alright and physically (missing arm apart) he was ok.

Cody Pomeray

gramar wrote: »

The first thing I was going to do was call the ambulance as when I saw him almost fall out of the car I thought he was concussed and I had the phone in my hand. He insisted he was alright and physically (missing arm apart) he was ok.

Might be interesting to know how he lost the arm.....!

poldebruin

...never mind the Gardai, OP should simply have called an ambulance. Plenty of people take a knock to the head, make it home and die later.

You would have done the right thing, and you wouldn't have had to "shop" this guy to the Gardai. (although he obviously would have ended up in Garda custody, albeit indirectly)

humberklog

It's refreshing to see a "Did I do the right thing?" thread that isn't karma hunting.

I think you did the normal thing OP, being at the scene of an accident is an unusual and stressful situation and one's reaction should be to see to it that all involved are ok.

Calling the police would have been the correct thing to do but I don't think it would have been such an automatic response as many people seem to think it would be.

You did the normal thing OP. Reacted to the immediate situation.

Freddy Smelly

i'd have called the gardai... cos he will likely drive drunk again... he may not have injured anyone this time... but driving drunk while having a disability is even more of a danger than drunk driving without a disability and next time it could be far worse... he could hit a child, person or another vehicle killing them.

driving drunk reduces your reaction times... driving drunk with a disability would be even worse as not only is his reaction times reduced but the physical ability to regain an out of control car would be practically non existant

Ilik Urgee

How many of us would've done the same thing as you OP? I would and have. He was a very lucky boy the same fellow, instances from a burning death and pissed as a fart.

And btw well done!

martinedwards

So OP, how does it feel being an accomplis to the crime, assisting a fugitive, and perverting the course of justice?

Phone the Guards!!!

I once stopped to help someone who was stoped on the motorway. when my wife opened her window the fumes of drink would have put US over the limit. I had a full car so no room to give him a lift so I said we'd phone his mate for help (he gave us the number) we made 2 phone calls.

Cody Pomeray

martinedwards wrote: »

So OP, how does it feel being an accomplis to the crime, assisting a fugitive, and perverting the course of justice?

Phone the Guards!!!

I think all your post needs is more exclamation marks.

kylith

gramar wrote: »

The first thing I was going to do was call the ambulance as when I saw him almost fall out of the car I thought he was concussed and I had the phone in my hand. He insisted he was alright and physically (missing arm apart) he was ok.

I would urge you that, should you find yourself in a similar situation, insist on calling an ambulance. Many people will claim that they're ok when they're not, out of embarrassment, or out of fear of being caught driving while drunk out of their minds, or even because they don't realise that they are injured.

A family member of mine was involved in a fall, she insisted that she didn't need to go to hospital, she was fine, it was only a bruise, etc. Now, a few years later, she's discovered that she damaged her knee so badly in that fall that she needs a replacement, and it may have been avoided if she'd just gotten over being embarrassed about falling and gotten an x-ray at the time.

Jester252

You made a bad choice. You should have phoned for an ambulance when you came across the accident. You let a guy leave the scene of an accident without having him checked out by a trained medical professional. You also aided with the cleaning up of a crime scene. The owner of the field is going to have a nice cost at fixing the hole where the drunk guy drove into.

gramar

The driver just called and thanked me for 'helping' him and apologised for what had happened and for the awkward position he put a few of us in.
He told me it was a once off which I neither believe nor disbelieve as I don't know him.

Apparently he has been involved in some kind of civil court case and yesterday the judge ruled in his favour and after many months of the tension and stress caused by this he went out and celebrated and got himself into another mess. It goes without saying that the explanation in no way justifies his behaviour it just explains why he was pissed.

Ilik Urgee

gramar wrote: »

The driver just called and thanked me for 'helping' him and apologised for what had happened and for the awkward position he put a few of us in.
He told me it was a once off which I neither believe nor disbelieve as I don't know him.

Apparently he has been involved in some kind of civil court case and yesterday the judge ruled in his favour and after many months of the tension and stress caused by this he went out and celebrated and got himself into another mess. It goes without saying that the explanation in no way justifies his behaviour it just explains why he was pissed.

That'd make my mind up straight away. I'd ring them. That's just me mind.

splashthecash

Jesus I would have called the Gardai. He was drink driving and it was just pure luck he didn't injure anyone. I just hope he doesn't take this episode as an excuse to do it again...

December2012

gramar wrote: »

The driver just called and thanked me for 'helping' him and apologised for what had happened and for the awkward position he put a few of us in.
He told me it was a once off which I neither believe nor disbelieve as I don't know him.

Apparently he has been involved in some kind of civil court case and yesterday the judge ruled in his favour and after many months of the tension and stress caused by this he went out and celebrated and got himself into another mess. It goes without saying that the explanation in no way justifies his behaviour it just explains why he was pissed.

Explains why he was pissed? Maybe.

Explains why he drove when pissed? Not a fücking chance.

splashthecash

gramar wrote: »

The driver just called and thanked me for 'helping' him and apologised for what had happened and for the awkward position he put a few of us in.
He told me it was a once off which I neither believe nor disbelieve as I don't know him.

Apparently he has been involved in some kind of civil court case and yesterday the judge ruled in his favour and after many months of the tension and stress caused by this he went out and celebrated and got himself into another mess. It goes without saying that the explanation in no way justifies his behaviour it just explains why he was pissed.

At least he has your number in his phone now if he decides to go out for a drive again while scuttered drunk :rolleyes:

--Kaiser--

Odysseus wrote: »

OP you did the right thing in seeing if anyone needed help or medical treatment. As to the reporting aspect well that is for you and you alone to decide.

He absolutely did not do the right thing, the man was so drunk he could barely speak or walk, he should go to jail. Frankly I think the OP should also go to jail for not reporting a serious crime