This goes back 9 years. On a rural road, as I rounded a sharp curve, up ahead I noticed a car had skidded off a dry road and was bent around a tree. There were 4 high-school age kids in the car, moaning in pain as I ran up to them. All were conscious, and responded to me when I asked questions but they were in obvious distress. There was no blood and the car itself, though badly damaged, wasn't leaking gas or on fire. I reached in and turned off the ignition.
A car pulled alongside and the woman was on her cell phone. In about 7 minutes, the EMTs arrived. During that time, I urged the kids to relax and not move and kept them engaged in discussion. When the medics arrived, I moved away and went down the road to slow oncoming traffic and directed them to turn around because the narrow roadway was now partially blocked by the other vehicles on the scene.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, I gave them a statement, my phone number, etc. The kids were being taken care of, so I headed off to complete my run.
A couple of days later when I went by the same spot, I crossed over the tire marks and realized that I could have been taken out during the broadside skid of the car. They obviously were going very fast and I don't think I could have had much time to react if I was in its path. I figure I must have come upon the scene in less than two minutes of its occurrence and realize that due to fortunate timing, I'm still around to write about it.
The kids, by the way, all came out fine and healed completely. One of them, a 14-year-old, had "borrowed" his grandfather's car for a little ride. It was a Saturday and it turns out no alcohol was involved.