A hard lesson learned.

Let this be a lesson to people, hang up and drive!!

My wife and I were heading to dinner last night and we need to stop at the supermarket to pick something up. We were heading to a 4-way intersection. We had a green light but noticed an ambulance was heading westbound and our traffic was stopped.

And then it happened.

An SUV going north stopped blocking an eastbound lane (not west bound traffic and it is a 3 lane road not including turning lanes) to try to let the ambulance go though. Another SUV behind them rear-ended them (pretty hard).

We rolled our eyes at the stupidity of the person who hit them then saw something horrific. A motorcycle was in front of the SUV stopped in the right lane (which was blocked by the accident), I'm assuming to help or call for help. A car had sped around the accent vehicles (ignoring the ambulance) just in time to hit the motorcyclist. He hit with such force that the car went over the motorcycle, the cyclist, and over the guard rail to ride on it about 10 feet then slam back down to the ground. We I saw the motorcyclist he was trying to pull himself off of the street and his legs were bent in directions that legs aren't supposed to go in.

Luckily there were already two police cars in the intersection and the ambulance was able to stop for a few seconds, I'm assuming to call dispatch to let them know what happened and give details, before heading to their call. We pulled into the supermarket (southwest corner of that intersection) and I watched what was happening when my wife ran in to get a few things. Luckily, another ambulance and a rescue were there within 5 minutes.

The part that is pissing me off the most is that the driver of the car was STILL ON HIS CELL PHONE TALKING (he was holding the phone up to his ear). Obviously he wasn't paying enough attention to see the accident, the ambulance, or the motorcyclist and obviously his conversation was more important than the poor motorcyclist that he had just most likely broken both legs (at the least).

Yes, I work for a major wireless communications provider but I firmly believe that most of the people out there who talk while driving (not using a headset or other hands free) are distracted and do not have full control of their vehicle plus are not aware of their surroundings.