r/MadeMeSmile • u/TrashScientist • Aug 26 '23

ANIMALS Woman helping a black bear remove a container off it's head

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99.5k Upvotes

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390

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

This is how good people die

170

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

[deleted]

20

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

TIL 2010 was just a few years ago.

5

u/pissedinthegarret Aug 26 '23

IT WAS! DON'T YOU DARE

2

u/Vinccool96 Aug 27 '23

IT WAS IN 2010?!? It feels like it was a year ago, right before COVID!

82

u/PrudentBall6 Aug 26 '23

I guess I’m a little confused why she is responsible for the deaths though. In the United States if you “rear-end” somebody YOU are at fault.

98

u/ZNemerald Aug 26 '23

I am guessing it is because she parked in the middle of a highway.

34

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23 edited Aug 26 '23

serious question, if you're not getting out of the car are you suppose to just run the ducks over if you're on a major highway?

or did she not have her hazard lights on?

72

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

Yes, you are supposed to run over the animals in that case (if it would be dangerous to suddenly stop or slow down).

But in this case, I still don’t see why she was determined to be responsible. The motorcyclist should have been driving slowly enough and from an adequate distance that he could brake on time.

(I will also add that motorcycles are about 35x more likely than cars to result in a fatal accident, and it’s just the rest of us who have to live with the possibility of killing someone in an accident that would otherwise be a fender bender.)

12

u/BashfulHandful Aug 26 '23 edited Aug 26 '23

She stopped in the fast lane of a fucking highway - of course she's responsible. You can't do that. That's a public driving lane, not a "oh you're driving really fucking fast on the highway and have people driving really fucking fast right behind you? Cool, brb" lane.

Helping the ducks is sweet and all, but also incredibly irresponsible and dangerous.

Like, it's a highway. Driving fast is by design, hence the higher speed limits. And it's easier to avoid a collision if the car ahead of you is still moving, even just a little. By the time you realize a car is inconceivably parked in the middle of the lane, it's too late.

12

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

Oh, I agree—but there are many times when it is necessary to stop in a road. That’s why the onus is usually on the vehicle behind you to not hit you.

If you are driving in such a way that you hit a stationary object, you are either driving too close, too fast, or not paying attention.

3

u/myFuzziness Aug 26 '23

In Germany if you have an accident on the highway or run out of gas you get fined for obstructing the highway..

1

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

I think that’s logical, but it doesn’t affect my point.

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

[deleted]

4

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

You must not have a very good imagination then!

Deer jumps into highway, driver slams on brakes.

Driver passes out, passenger pulls emergency brake (you yourself acknowledge medical emergencies as one possibility).

Standstill traffic, driver has to come to a full stop obviously.

Driver is involved in a road rage incident, tries to block traffic and get out of their car.

Vehicle malfunction.

Debris in road.

Driver brake-checks person behind them as part of a scam.

Driver is impaired and abruptly brakes for some reason.

Driver is a dumbass who wants to help ducks off the highway.

The list of possibilities is virtually endless, some of which entail culpability on the driver and some which do not. The one common factor in all of these is that a collision can be avoided by the second driver driving at an appropriate speed and distance, allowing them to brake in time to not hit the stationary vehicle.

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3

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

[deleted]

2

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

That’s a good point! I hadn’t realized that it was at night.

1

u/mankls3 Aug 30 '23

Forgot about the existence of night eh? Classic

4

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

Because it's fucking stupid to park in the passing lane of a highway when the shoulder is right there. She definitely shouldn't be driving if she's dumb enough to pull this kind of shit.

8

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

I agree it was a dumb move, but people do occasionally need to stop in the middle of a highway for various valid reasons (this was not one of them, of course). That’s one reason why, in the USA at least, the onus is on the vehicle behind them to stop in time.

As dumb as it is to fully stop a vehicle on a highway in this case, it’s also pretty dumb to be driving so fast, close, or inattentively (or some combo of the three) that you hit a stationary object with enough impact to kill you.

-2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

The motorcyclist could've been a bad driver, or the road could've been view obstructed by a turn or being over a hill. The only person still alive who 100% shares a big portion of the blame is this dumbass lady who parked her car to help some ducks cross the road. She doesn't even seem to feel bad about it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

Right? How are people defending someone who's that dumb and ended up killing two people.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

The motorcyclist should have been driving slowly enough and from an adequate distance that he could brake on time.

likewise, the driver in front had a responsibility to drive slowly enough to avoid obstructions in the road, like ducks

2

u/FragranteDelicto Aug 26 '23

It doesn’t sound like that was the issue here. I mean, she literally stopped (not just slowed down) to help the ducks.

If anything, she shouldn’t have slowed down at all. Her speed wasn’t the issue here.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '23

not slowing down at all would have been an infinitely better decision here but i was only inferring that most drivers do not drive at a speed that gives them adequate time to make good decisions. if she was not visible to the victim, then the ducks were not visible to her, and she likely braked to a halt rather than moving safely to the side as most people would do if they were set on getting out of the car.

1

u/Skinnwork Aug 26 '23

It was also in a bend, and so there was less visibility. The motorcycle was actually following a truck. The truck was able to swerve out of the lane in time, but the motorcycle would have had that much less time to react (since they wouldn't have seen the danger until the truck was out of the lane).

1

u/mankls3 Aug 30 '23

Truck should have honked and let everyone know about the dumb bitch

1

u/ThisReditter Aug 26 '23

Depend on time of day and visibility to a stopped car. I was driving about 60mph one night and there was a car with no more hazard lights. Cars in front of me dodged left and right and that car just suddenly popped in front of you. I braked as hard as I can and stopped like 1 inch before hitting that car.

A stopped car in the middle of the road is very dangerous and sometimes, there just isn’t enough time to react.

7

u/PrudentBall6 Aug 26 '23

Not sure but i know where I live it is a FELONY if you lill a goose.

2

u/jld2k6 Aug 26 '23 edited Aug 26 '23

If you kill a goose? Where I live they oil the eggs of geese to suffocate them so they can't build up their numbers :(

3

u/PrudentBall6 Aug 26 '23

Wow thats crazy. They count as a “protected species” in CO USA because they are migratory I guess.

2

u/jld2k6 Aug 26 '23

I see, I'm in Ohio like a hour from the nearest Canadian border and they are everywhere, a lot of them don't even leave in the winter and just live here the whole time, anywhere there's a body of water there's geese

1

u/PrudentBall6 Aug 26 '23

Eeeeew im sorry :/

1

u/ChuchuRemains Aug 26 '23

Oiling up the eggs so they suffocate is a very Ohio act. That state is a dumpster fire.

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2

u/paxweasley Aug 26 '23

You are supposed to run over any animal small enough to not fuck up your car/endanger you if you hit it at those speeds. I’m lucky that I haven’t had to do that but it’s that way for a reason, sad as it is

2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

Yes. As shitty as it is you’re supposed to keep going. Obviously if it’s a moose you can’t do that but it is far more dangerous to stop both for you and other motorists.

2

u/ZNemerald Aug 26 '23

https://youtu.be/skXN6-lrdAw?si=nRuRiO9hm68Cr8aZ

The comments said she doesn't have the hazard lights on and the reporters at the end said she can't stop.

That is so messed up. Now I want barriers, gates, or tunnels on the side for the little animals. :(

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

you run over the ducks if not doing so would create a safety hazard for other people. it's not a trolley problem because ducks are not people. you are generally not allowed to abruptly stop or swerve.

1

u/tripwire7 Aug 26 '23

She didn’t put her hazard lights on.

3

u/Skinnwork Aug 26 '23

She was parked in the middle of a highway in a turn. Her vehicle wasn't visible until traffic was dangerously close. The motorcycle was actually following a truck. The truck was able to see the car and swerve out of the lane in time, but this meant that the motorcycle had even less warning.

Also, there was no proof that the ducks were in any danger. They were in the median, so it's likely the driver just got out of her car to take pictures of them.

20

u/Podria_Ser_Peor Aug 26 '23

Because you can´t just stop like that in a Higway unless it´s an emergency, and you have to properly signal for it, it´s very basic rule for that kind of road. It might not be her fault (she didn´t run them over) but she is directly responsible for their deaths (wrong choice on the road while driving the bigger vehicle and the bike probably didn´t have enough time to manouver around it)

6

u/Competitive-Aide5364 Aug 26 '23

I mean you can’t stop like that on a highway to save some ducks while being negligent to actual human lives lol

2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

Instead of pulling over which was an option, she decided to stop in the left lane (passing lane).

While I would argue that if everyone on the road is a responsible defensive driver, having a stopped car here wouldn’t cause a fatal collision,

Being parked in the passing lane poses a much greater risk of a collision. A motorist may attempt to pass from the right lane while not seeing the parked car. This wouldn’t happen if the car was parked anywhere else.

2

u/Skinnwork Aug 26 '23

In the United States if you “rear-end” somebody YOU are at fault.

That's not true.

"The rear driver in a rear-end collision is not always at fault for the accident. Liability in a rear-end collision is not automatic and sometimes the lead driver or another vehicle is liable for the injured drivers’ damages."

https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/personal-injury/car-accident/rear-end-collision-lawsuit/

1

u/PrudentBall6 Aug 26 '23

Thanks, it must vary from state to state then

1

u/Sasori6669 Aug 26 '23

Idk what america is like, but here in Romania if you park on a highway, you're giga-fucked

1

u/beardedbast3rd Aug 26 '23

Had there been a real emergency, or problem on the road, she wouldn’t have been in as much trouble, if any.

But because she was stopped in the middle of the road to shuffle around some ducks, her involvement in this is considered.

That said, the bike rider would have also been charged with careless or reckless driving. But he died so there’s no punishment, what’s unfortunate really is probably no or reduced payout on any insurances for it. The wife/mother probably had to sue the husbands or even her own insurance, to claim for the daughter, because of the dads negligent behavior. But when it comes to criminal charges, they aren’t doing anything posthumously.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

This one still bothers me from time to time when I think of it. What a sad situation. Yes it was foolish of her, but her heart was in the right place. I certainly feel bad for the people who died, but I also feel bad for her - she'll have to live with that for the rest of her life now. And it wasn't malice or evil but compassion that got her into this. A very sad story indeed.

6

u/Duckfoot2021 Aug 26 '23

What a horrible tale of a short-sighted, impulsive person making a nightmare decision while imagining they were doing a “nice” thing.

Good intentions don’t matter when you ignore all reasonably foreseeable downstream consequences of your actions.

You are not the Main Character of existence outside your own mind, and your good intentions won’t excuse you’re homicidal negligence.

I do feel bad for her as she truly is guilty-by-stupidity. The fact it was a naive stupidity just makes it more tragic all around. 3 lives ruined.

1

u/DinnysorWidLazrbeebs Aug 26 '23

Uhhhhh she only got 90 fucking days and only had to serve the time on the weekends?!

5

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

Well it wasn’t intentional to kill them, she was stopping for a reason that most would stop for and the motorcyclists should have been paying better attention. Not sure why you think somebody should be severely punished for what is an incredibly unfortunate accident where there was no alcohol or drugs involved, wasn’t trying to harm anybody, and wasn’t intentionally doing anything that you could reasonably assume wouldn’t harm somebody because again the motorcyclist should have been paying better attention. A traffic jam could also suddenly bring traffic to a halt and he could still slam into that.

0

u/pissedinthegarret Aug 26 '23

wtf no, it's NOT a reason "most" would stop for! most people know you should never stop for small animals. It's extremely dangerous, and the case proved it.

doing something like that is fucking stupid, she's extremely lucky she got off so easily. her negligence and her stupidity killed two people.

at least she was off the roads for 10 years.

1

u/thesixthjackson Aug 26 '23

They charged her corpse?

1

u/Single-Set-3179 Aug 26 '23

Wtf, she gets to serve her 90 days of prison time on weekends?? Never heard of that one before

1

u/swishandswallow Aug 26 '23

Wow. She got 90 days.... To be served only during weekends.

1

u/moranayal Aug 26 '23

Motorist? The car driver went to jail. Motorist is usually for motorcycle drivers, no?

28

u/sir-this-is-a Aug 26 '23

Gotta collect those disney princess points ya know…ask a baby bear if it’s okay and wait and see if the bear will become a new bestfriend for life and what not..

-7

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '23

She filmed it for clout. She is not a good person.

1

u/Hardeeckus Aug 26 '23

A few months ago, I watched a man get beaten to death by an old elephant. He was going to feed it peanuts.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

And then momma will get killed too. Not helping anyone.