Originally posted by TenaciousC:
I work in a small market, and we cover car wrecks only if there are serious injuries or fatalities, and even then, it's usually just a VO. Our main anchor doesn't like to use car wreck vid during the week, too depressing, he says. Sometimes, though, on a slow day, we do use vid of wrecks w/o serious injuries just for time filler.
It sounds like everyone has the same general view on what's broadcast-worthy and what isn't.
I've had a few experiences with car wrecks that I won't soon forget:
1. While heading eastbound to a liveshot for another story, we passed by a flipped SUV in westbound traffic. It had
just happened-- no emergency vehicles, cars started stopping to help the guy. A paramedic who happened to be passing by stopped, I used my camera light so he could see in the cabin and help the driver.
It turns out the guy was, of course, speeding. It had just rained for a very short time. As everyone knows, the worst time to drive is when it first starts raining: oil floats atop water. So, the surface becomes a lot more slick.
This guy tried ducking through traffic and other lanes, lost control on the slick surface, and smashed into the median, flipping his truck. Our angle was firefighters talking about how they see accidents like that often during the rainy season.
2. I was parked on the westbound side of a wide median made of loose gravel and sand. My assignment was to check out a fully-engulfed van on the eastbound side of the highway. Called back to let everyone know there were no injuries. We decided to shoot a VO just for the traffic havoc it caused.
My back was to westbound traffic. The flatbed truck sent to retrieve the burned-out van was in westbound traffic. The driver was cut-off by another car. He swerved to miss the car-- and came within three feet of slamming into
me!
Needless to say, I was a bit shaken up. Once the flatbed came to rest and the dust and gravel settled, I could
reach out and touch it with my right arm. The only warning I had that it was coming was the spray of dirt and rocks on the back of my legs a split-second before it landed next to me. A wrecker from the same service was sent to retrieve the flatbed, as it was trapped up to its front wheel-wells.
I learned that, no matter how aware of your surroundings you think you are, something can always go wrong. I came very close to becoming a Medivac chopper story myself, and am a little bit wiser because of it. Be careful out there!
3. Last week, while driving into work, I saw a semi three cars behind me (we were in the fast lane) smack against the guardrails, then swing across three lanes of mid-afternoon traffic as it jack-knifed. I hopped out of my van and ran back to the scene (keeping in mind, of course, my previous experience in #2), to make sure the driver was alright. Surprisingly, the driver missed
every single car on the road. An officer on the other side of the highway stopped to help direct traffic.
I called the station as I ran to the scene to let them know what was going on, that I was okay, and that I wanted to check to see if anyone needed medical help. Fortunately, it wasn't the case. I grabbed a quick VO later.
It struck me as funny: it was such a dramatic scene, even in my rear-view mirror, but it was only worth a five-sentence VO in our early shows.