Big accident after midnight

I had to go pick up a friend at the bus station in downtown Providence tonight; I got the call just past midnight. I'd been expecting her earlier, but the bus was running late. It was raining and dark, not my favorite weather to drive in even when I'm not dying of sleep deprivation.

So I took I95 down. As I was getting off the 22A ramp - a long, gently curving ramp that most people take at high speed - I suddenly saw a huge accident in the road ahead. A white car was upside-down in the middle of the ramp, with broken glass and debris everywhere. It must have happened only seconds earlier, because I was the first on the scene. People were dragging each other out through the windows of the half-crushed car. It was two girls and a young man; there was no visible blood or injury, but injuries still seemed likely.

I put on my hazards, kicked some of the debris to the side of the ramp and dialed 911. Fucking AT&T! I got a tone and a "This call cannot be completed as dialed". What's the point of having 911 if it doesn't work when you need it? Fortunately someone else was able to get through to the police.

Some guy came up and asked me to move my car so he could get past. "Drive around me" I said. He did, with loud popping sounds as he drove through the broken glass. Another car followed him. A few people were trying to comfort the passengers from the car, who were making the usual sounds of distress - not screaming, just sounds of lamentation. I noticed that the girls from the car were wearing remarkably revealing dresses - not torn, they were designed that way. Is tonight prom night?

I couldn't figure out how the car had gotten upside-down. There was a loop of another ramp almost directly overhead, but the guard rail was undamaged.

I was shaking, to be honest. The ramp was pretty much blocked up (there's a lot of traffic in downtown Providence, even after midnight), so I shouted that we should clear a path for the police and ambulance, and went carefully around the crash site myself. I avoided the worst of the glass and didn't hear any popping sounds. Picked up my friend and came home; on the way we passed the crash site from a distance, and I could see flashing police lights.

What a weird experience!

Big accident after midnight

I had to go pick up a friend at the bus station in downtown Providence tonight; I got the call just past midnight. I'd been expecting her earlier, but the bus was running late. It was raining and dark, not my favorite weather to drive in even when I'm not dying of sleep deprivation.

So I took I95 down. As I was getting off the 22A ramp - a long, gently curving ramp that most people take at high speed - I suddenly saw a huge accident in the road ahead. A white car was upside-down in the middle of the ramp, with broken glass and debris everywhere. It must have happened only seconds earlier, because I was the first on the scene. People were dragging each other out through the windows of the half-crushed car. It was two girls and a young man; there was no visible blood or injury, but injuries still seemed likely.

I put on my hazards, kicked some of the debris to the side of the ramp and dialed 911. Fucking AT&T! I got a tone and a "This call cannot be completed as dialed". What's the point of having 911 if it doesn't work when you need it? Fortunately someone else was able to get through to the police.

Some guy came up and asked me to move my car so he could get past. "Drive around me" I said. He did, with loud popping sounds as he drove through the broken glass. Another car followed him. A few people were trying to comfort the passengers from the car, who were making the usual sounds of distress - not screaming, just sounds of lamentation. I noticed that the girls from the car were wearing remarkably revealing dresses - not torn, they were designed that way. Is tonight prom night?

I couldn't figure out how the car had gotten upside-down. There was a loop of another ramp almost directly overhead, but the guard rail was undamaged.

I was shaking, to be honest. The ramp was pretty much blocked up (there's a lot of traffic in downtown Providence, even after midnight), so I shouted that we should clear a path for the police and ambulance, and went carefully around the crash site myself. I avoided the worst of the glass and didn't hear any popping sounds. Picked up my friend and came home; on the way we passed the crash site from a distance, and I could see flashing police lights.

What a weird experience!