Not only is the weather shitty here today...

I was driving home on the highway and heard a loud crunching sound. The roads are slippery and I hit a spot that was flooded and flagged off. As I went to slow down I heard the unmistakable sound of collision and looked in my rear view mirror. I saw on car with a smashed front end sliding up the hill off the highway, the car directly behind me was really close to my Jeep, but also sliding to the hill. Behind that was a semi jack-knifing. I was stunned, but didn't know if I should have stopped or not. I started to, but I thought maybe it would have caused more of a hazard if I would have. Up a little further I saw two more cars on the side of the road that were recently damaged. I just wanted to get home.
I hope the people were/are OK. That was a bit too much to take today.

you could be liable under a good samaritan law, just like the last episode of Seinfeld. Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?

I do feel bad i didn't stop. Should I have?

But you want to make sure you do not get hurt or killed doing so.

all you could do was call 911.

Good Samaritan laws, by the way, only apply to health professionals who stop to offer assistance at an accident site, and there are so many protection statutes that counter the GS laws, they're pretty toothless.

Don't ever be afraid, though, to help someone. Ever.

I had a cell too, but I was freaked out about almost becoming part of the accident too.
Like I said, i hope they were all OK.

Given the circumstances, you did the best thing you could have done by getting out of the way.

But, if you ever run into anything like that again, you'll call 911 almost automatically. Awareness works like that, sugar.

Now stop being so hard on yourself, and count your blessings.

The car that got hit was a few feet from my Jeep as it was sliding. I was just a little freaked out.
I never saw a semi jack-knife either. It was surreal.

it's best to call emergency personnel and let them respond.

I should have. It was pretty chaotic at the time, but I feel bad by leaving.

We've all, I'm sure, passed by situations we could have helped and not done so, thinking later about it. It is something that happens. Yes, you should have probably called 911 or stopped to help, but you didn't. Such is life, you know?

At least you thought secondly about it, which is more than many people do. Many would have driven by and found it an inconvenience and been angry at the people in the accident. You, sir, are a good fellow for even thinking of helping.

And next time, you'll remember your mistakes and do the right thing.

The thing is...I pulled to the side, but the weather was crappy and it was pretty chaotic. I thought for a second to stop, but then thought I might have been another hazard for others on the road.
I made a "judgment call". I don't know if it was right or wrong.

Don't sweat it, you're human.

I've seen accidens and stopped, and other I did not, hoping someone else would, or saying that they looked okay.

One night in the rain I turned the corner in my car and found two people laying in the crosswalk who had just been hit by a car which sped away. My GF at the time ran to a house and had the police called, while I cradled a guys bloody head in my lap and held the injured woman's hand as she screamed due to broken legs. When the PD and FD got there, they pushed me out of the way, literally, and I just kinda walked away stunned, blood all over me. I was freaked out about that for a while.

My brother once stopped on the highway for an accident and a guy died while my brother was giving CPR to him. He was messed up for a while about that too.

But I once saw numerous cars spin off the highway and crash in an ice storm and just kept going out of self-preservation afraid to hit the brakes or turn the wheel.

Every case is different.

RL

I have stopped before. Once I saw a guy on the side of the road after his motorcycle went down. His foot was almost off of his leg and he was just laying there in shock. I took my coat off and put it under his head. He asked me for a cigarette, which I gave him and I sat there until I saw the emergency people coming.
I was just a bit freaked by this one today because it happened right behind me and I was almost part of it. I just wanted to get home and off the road.

is enough to shake anyone up...

YIKES!

RL