Jogeephus
Well-known member
Several years ago I was in a small town in Alabama and was at a Hardee's restaurant getting some lunch. While I was inside I saw this girl carrying her baby come in to pick up her check. She was nursing the baby with a bottle. She left the same time I did and the road in front of the restaurant was a four lane separated by a grass median. I see her get in her car and puts the baby in the front seat holding the child and still giving it its bottle. She pulls out of the restaurant and pulls right in front of a semi-truck driven by a black man. The semi driver had just come through the downtown area where there were plenty of stop lights and was travelling at a safe speed but as you know a truck is not a sports car and he could not stop to prevent hitting the girl so he swerves the truck into the left hand lane. The girl - wanting to make a left but couldn't because of the median - then changes lanes and moves in front of the semi truck with no blinker and no clue what was coming her way. The trucker then hits the grass median to keep from hitting her but the girl then turns into the paved area between the medians and the semi T-bones her and knocks her across the two lanes and onto the ROW.
I'm standing with my jaw down witnessing this whole event. It was surreal. I immediately pull my truck over to the ROW and turn on my hazards and me and the truck driver run over to see if the girl is alright. Moments later other people show up and then a State Trooper shows up. Many of the new arrivals turned into witnesses and began telling the trooper how the trucker was speeding - doing 70 mph - and hit the poor girl and her infant baby. It was becoming a mob scene and the trucker looked like a crow in a flock of cowbirds and the heckles were getting louder as it seemed each new arrival - became a new witness and built their testimony on what they heard the others say.
I was appalled at the mob mentality and stood on the ROW waiting for things to simmer down. When the trucker defended himself against the accusations the trooper told him to shut up and stand over in the grass and he'd get to him in a minute. I stood and watched him take names of witnesses and when things died down a bit I walked to the officer and told him that is not what happened at all and many of his witnesses were not even there at the time of the accident. The trooper looked at me and said, "boy, you best go over and stand by your buddy because you boys are in enough trouble as it is". I complied thinking you stupid redneck sob.
Long story short, I ended up having to drive six hours to sit on a witness stand. Apparently I was the only eye-witness whose testimony had not been discredited by the wreck data. The car the girl was driving was unregistered and the plates stolen and of course she didn't have insurance but was fishing for a big check from the trucking company. The ambulance chasing attorney she hired tried to discredit my testimony but he made a critical error in judgment thinking I was some dumb hick then asking a question he didn't know the answer to and my response essentially was the coup de grâce to his case and the trucker was found not guilty. I found it interesting that the judge seemed genuinely interested in my testimony of how the trooper had treated me and he even asked me a few questions himself regarding the trooper's actions and comments to me.
It was a major pain in the azz to have to go through all this for someone I didn't know. I could have easily gotten out of it but I would hope the trucker would do the same for me if our roles were reversed - assuming he could see past the color of my skin. I think it was worth the inconvenience though and think two good things came out of it. I feel sorry for the trucker though because this thing drug on for two years and it probably screwed his career over when he was only doing his job and doing a good job at that given the situation he was faced with.
I'm standing with my jaw down witnessing this whole event. It was surreal. I immediately pull my truck over to the ROW and turn on my hazards and me and the truck driver run over to see if the girl is alright. Moments later other people show up and then a State Trooper shows up. Many of the new arrivals turned into witnesses and began telling the trooper how the trucker was speeding - doing 70 mph - and hit the poor girl and her infant baby. It was becoming a mob scene and the trucker looked like a crow in a flock of cowbirds and the heckles were getting louder as it seemed each new arrival - became a new witness and built their testimony on what they heard the others say.
I was appalled at the mob mentality and stood on the ROW waiting for things to simmer down. When the trucker defended himself against the accusations the trooper told him to shut up and stand over in the grass and he'd get to him in a minute. I stood and watched him take names of witnesses and when things died down a bit I walked to the officer and told him that is not what happened at all and many of his witnesses were not even there at the time of the accident. The trooper looked at me and said, "boy, you best go over and stand by your buddy because you boys are in enough trouble as it is". I complied thinking you stupid redneck sob.
Long story short, I ended up having to drive six hours to sit on a witness stand. Apparently I was the only eye-witness whose testimony had not been discredited by the wreck data. The car the girl was driving was unregistered and the plates stolen and of course she didn't have insurance but was fishing for a big check from the trucking company. The ambulance chasing attorney she hired tried to discredit my testimony but he made a critical error in judgment thinking I was some dumb hick then asking a question he didn't know the answer to and my response essentially was the coup de grâce to his case and the trucker was found not guilty. I found it interesting that the judge seemed genuinely interested in my testimony of how the trooper had treated me and he even asked me a few questions himself regarding the trooper's actions and comments to me.
It was a major pain in the azz to have to go through all this for someone I didn't know. I could have easily gotten out of it but I would hope the trucker would do the same for me if our roles were reversed - assuming he could see past the color of my skin. I think it was worth the inconvenience though and think two good things came out of it. I feel sorry for the trucker though because this thing drug on for two years and it probably screwed his career over when he was only doing his job and doing a good job at that given the situation he was faced with.
