Tragedy could have been prevented

J

James Y

Joined
Feb 18, 1999
Messages
6,504
I happened to check out America's Most Wanted last night. One story featured a lady working with a road construction crew. When she had one car stopped, she noticed a truck speeding up from behind, but the guy kept speeding. She did what she could, but the truck slammed into the back of the car, igniting it. One of the women in the car escaped, but the driver was stuck. The lady worker and other crew members tried desperately to get the driver out of the car, but she was held in by a jammed seatbelt. They could not get her out, and she burned to death in that car.

This tragedy could have been prevented had someone carried some kind of knife and thought to use it to cut the seatbelt. It would have been quickly resolved. I would have thought at least someone on a construction crew would have had a knife on them.

This may be an extreme case, but it can happen to anyone. I tell those who fear my knives that that is one reason I carry, and in my car I have a good, sharp knife within easy reach (usually clipped to the seatbelt). The life you save, if not your own, may be that of a loved one.
Jim
 
Are you telling me that a group of construction workers didn't have a pocket knife on them?

What the hell are we coming to?
 
I too find it hard to beleive that a member of the construction crew did not have a knife.
I grew up in an evironement where every male from the age of at least 12 carried a pocketknife.
The pocket knife, in all it's variations, is the most versatile, easiest carried tool available.
It would seem that it is impossible to beleive that we are growing into a society that we are so politically correct or so uncaring that we will only depend upon what's available or approved and that we see no need to be prepared for the many times when a knife is useful!
 
James,
Not a good story. My Uncle is a construction foreman. He always carries a knife. He used to carry either a fixed blade or a great big lock back on a belt sheath. Now he just carries a lock back, due to California laws.

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Shawn R Sullivan
~San Diego, Ca~
 
James, excellent idea to have a knife at hand for emergency situations. If you live near rivers and lakes or any permanent water source, you should also invest the $5 needed to buy an automatic center punch. Emergency personell carry these for breaking vehicle windows when necessary.
I was a volunteer firefighter for a couple years. Thank God I was never faced with this cenario. When situations occur, even much less dramatic and tramatic than this one, you would be suprised how a very level headed person can lose their capacity to think on a normal plain. Even trained emegency personell.
You would think there would be a law requiring all state employees to carry at least a seat belt cutter like they use in the racing industry. It only has a sharp edge inside a slot cut in a round nosed piece of steel. You couldn't cut someone with it if you tried.
Maybe this tragedy will get some law maker off their butt and motivate them to do something constructive. I wouldn't wanna bet my life on it though!Cover your own butts!!! Take care!! Michael

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
That really sucks.

But what would really, really suck is if one of them did have a knife an through all of the stress and commotion didn't realize that they could have used it to save the drivers life.

Under stress your mind will go through a million things and to focus on one thing, let alone the right thing, is a very hard thing to do if you don't train to do it or even know you can do it.

Ross T.
 
I'm not surprised at anything. Lots of the people in my rescue squad don't carry a knife. And the other day I was on a construction site and two guys had to go up to a third for a knife.

Amazing! The answer to what are we coming to is too scares me.
 
That story was in a recent Readers Digest. I already tossed it but I read that the woman on the construction crew is now a police officer. She had to make another rescue of a person who drove a car into a lake or river. I'm pretty sure the article said that if someone had a pocketknife at the first accident they could have saved the person.
 
You know I always point this stuff out to my wife and anyone else who will listen. I am trying, slowly but surely to win some "converts" to the cause.

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The bible is not such a book a man would write if he could, or could write if he would.

*Lewis S. Chafer

2 Tim 3:16
 
Better reason for us Forumites to spread the word! Spyderco used to market a great knife (Hotaru Firefly) that had an LED light also. My wife uses that knife as a keychain. She always carries that with her. I had given several as Christmas gfts. Come on Spyderco, bring back a Rescue with a light on it... Rescue-lite!
 
Well, personally, I think that this is a parenting issue. All of my kids carry knives (plural) and know how to use them.

They also all have the S&W 911 knife, which is a POS except for the spring loaded tungsten carbide penetrator which will shatter tempered glass.

They also have trauma shears; those big scissors with angled blades and plastic handles. These are actually the tool of choice when dealing with a refractory seat belt, as it is safer than a knife, having blunt tips on the blades. Further, you can stick the closed shears down into your waistband or somewhere else quickly. A knife takes more time to stow away. The other thing mitigating for trauma shear use is that if you are dealing with a dazed victim, he may well misunderstand why you are bending over him with a knife.

BTW; if you stop at accidents, be sure to carry some rubber gloves in your car, OK?

Hope this helps, Walt
 
I saw that too, on Saturday, and just to play devil's advocate, what if there were several knives present, but no one thought to use them? What if there was a directive that said carrying a knife while working was aginst policy? Who knows, but it should be showed to those who think an dged instrument is automatically dangerous or useless...

--dan
 
I can't believe how many people go without knives. Its ridiculous. I show horses and every year at the county fair when our 4-H club is setting up for the week I get asked at least ten times if someone can borrow my knife.Thats even when people know they are going to need them. Its a shame that people look at knives as weapons more than tools anymore. I carry a spyderco Delica and a Gerber 600 series multi tool daily.The first thing I hear almost everytime I flick my Delica open is boy is that thing wicked(even from people who want to borrow it). My mom won't even touch it.And for some reason snapping my pliars open makes people jump like I'm coming after them with a switchblade.What are we coming to? At this rate people wil be running at the sight of scissors someday.
 
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