So Amy's blog about the accident reminded me of one I witnessed a couple years ago. I was on my way to work driving on the 405. It was a pretty normal drive, the flow of the traffic was about 70 mph. I was in the #2 lane and there was this guy on a motorcycle in the fast lane (#1) ahead of me. He must have hit an oil slick or something cuz his bike shimmied really weird and then it went sideways and he just fell over it. His bike skidded off ahead of him while he just tumbled on the freeway. You never know what you'll do in these kinds of situations. The first two thoughts that came to my mind were 1) this can't be really happening and 2) does anyone else on the freeway notice this is happening or is it just me? My eyes were fixated on the guy so I didn't look anywhere else. I was amazed that our deceleration took a very long time although I wasn't sure how long it was, but we must have gone 200 yards before stopping. I can't remember if I was yelling or just thinking really loud, "stop skidding!". I remember praying too. The guy was wearing a helmet and had a pretty tough leather jacket on. He was pretty much spinning like a top on his back which probably kept him from breaking every bone in his arms and legs.

He came to a stop in front of the car next to me. I don't think my mouth could have been open any wider. And I watched this guy slowly stagger to his feet and WALK over to the center divider. I couldn't believe he was ok! Then this huge Hummer pulls in front of us (like I was going to hit the guy or something, I was already stopped, sheesh!) By then there were like 10 people talking to the guy. He was really shaken up and pretty bruised, but he looked like he was going to be alright. It was so amazing! Then I called 911 which I think was the first time I've ever called it. And man, let me tell you, I was no help at all. I couldn't remember where I was on the freeway or even what freeway I was driving on. All I could say was, "a man just bailed on his motorcycle on the freeway!" and then I can't remember what she asked, but I do remember all my responses were "I don't know". And finally she says, "Is it on the 405 near the airport?" And I said, "yeah" and I thought, "how did she know that?". So then I'm thinking rationally again and I realize that people were probably calling as soon as the guy tumbled. I was too busy trying not to run over the guy. Anyways, I wanted to pull over and help the guy, but there was such a crowd of people there already, I couldn't imagine what help I could offer, and I was just blocking traffic so I decided to keep driving. It was pretty amazing what I had just seen, but I never saw any mention of it on the news or in the newspaper. I wonder how many amazing things happen that nobody really knows about except the people who were there.

So you always wonder what kind of person you would be in the event of an emergency. From this experience, I learned I'm the guy that has to be shaken back into reality to be of some use, ha ha.