Dealing with the trauma of seeing bad accidents
Posted by Spirited_Mammoth_269@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Long story short, I saw my first dead body a couple months ago and it's stuck with me. From what I could tell it was a young girl in her teens-early 20's. Traffic was stopped on the other side of the highway and emergency vehicle lights were everywhere, it was the middle of the day. I'm driving along on the opposite side and I glance over to see the accident or whatever was going on and there's a dead girl in the middle of the road. She was mangled and there was blood and guts and brains all over and it was just a horrific thing to see. That was the start of my day. I saw her lying on the ground and the emergency crews were dragging over a cover to cover her up. I have no idea what happens after that BUT the image of that girl still sticks in my head. According to the news reports I looked at afterwards, it was a hit and run involving a semi truck but man. I was out in the middle of nowhere in the Appalachian mountains and I have no idea what a young girl would be doing on foot on the highway out there. Theres no shoulder to the road in most spots much less a sidewalk. I've only been driving a couple years so is this normal to have some sort of trauma due to seeing bad accidents on the road? I'm only a couple yrs in. Some stories I've heard from more senior guys at my company are even worse. Why don't we ever talk about this?
possibly_lost45@reddit
It's a good reminder to watch your speed, don't follow to close, slow down in bad weather.
18-Spinning-Wheels@reddit
There's no shame in seeking counseling over the incident, if you feel you need it.
Everyone deals with this type of trauma differently.
You wont see things like that daily, but it doesn't happen and sometimes its happening closer to you.
HowlingWolven@reddit
I’ve been close behind a few fatality MVCs and have consciously made the decision not to approach the scene too closely. I don’t need those demons haunting me.
Find someone to talk to, driver. Therapy’ll help.
NWdabest@reddit
I saw a mangled body and a car on fire with a man in it. Pretty jarring sight. I got over it by thinking about how if I went to a strangers funeral and saw their dead body it wouldn’t really bother me. Just a dead person whom I don’t know. It’s a good reminder to drive safe.
Financial-Prize9691@reddit
Find someone to talk to, a priest, a therapist, whatever works for you. It is, in my opinion, the best way to work through it.
Why don't I talk about it here? Too many trolls and super truckers. If this is the only place you have to share then go ahead. There are some of us that are listening.
I don't talk to my family and friends about it because they already worry about me driving, they don't need to know what I have seen out here. I have one trucker friend that has seen combat and when he is not messed up with his own demons, he will talk to me.
BigDikus69@reddit
Honestly its probably cause mental health is looked down upon, the first major accident i ever saw was a pile up saw a man ejected from the car and ragdolled his face looked like hamburger the female that was driving smashed into the steering wheel and her chest caved in. The motorcycle driver behind all of this hit a car and his daughter was literally thrown over the bridge where she died on impact the father's screams are still with me. Honestly you either bottle it up, or talk to someone about it.
SashaDabinsky@reddit
I drove past this one shortly after it happened. https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-state-patrol-identifies-woman-killed-while-walking-along-i-80/36570261
It was rainy and I was on my way to USPS in Des Moines. I could see all of the emergency lights ahead, but just assumed a garden variety accident. When I rolled past and looked over to my right I saw her twisted body partially under a yellow sheet. It still pops into my head occasionally over 4-1/2 years later. :(