Unfortunately, many of the motorcycle accidents covered on this blog are fatal. Motorcyclists are among the most vulnerable motorists on Nashville roads and frequently suffer traumatic injuries upon being thrown from their bikes. Residents in Nashville and around the country were surprised by one motorcycle accident after video of the rescue effort was picked up by news stations around the world.
The video of the accident shows a burning car and motorcycle. The people behind the camera can be heard reacting when they realize that someone is trapped underneath the burning car. Bystanders also noticed the motorcyclist trapped under the vehicle, so they rallied and lifted the car off of the man.
A crowd which included construction workers, a woman in flip flops and businessmen lifted the vehicle as another bystander dragged the man to safety. The first officer to the scene was about to call another officer to fetch a jack when, "I realized that these citizens had already organized and were just going to manually lift the car up," he said.
"It was frightening," said the man who filmed the rescue from a nearby building. "You don't really see something like that and then when you do, it's inspiring. It gives us hope."
"All that came to my mind was if it was my son or my kid brother or anybody that is known to me, the first thing I would have done was to help that person," a rescuer said. "So all I did was quickly rush and give a helping hand."
The 21-year-old motorcyclist is expected to recover from his personal injuries and is in good spirits. The car driver, who caused the accident by cutting the motorcycle off, did not suffer serious personal injuries.
Source: CNN, "Motorcyclist's uncle tells rescuers, 'You are heroes," Sept. 14, 2011