Posted on 12/11/2003 1:40:57 PM PST by vannrox
In a frightening moment when reality radio turned all too real yesterday morning, motorist Cheryl Picker of Shoreham was debating the Michael Jackson sexual-abuse case on the air when her sport utility vehicle was hit and rolled over on the William Floyd Parkway.
Picker had just finished telling radio talk-show host Curtis Sliwa, "Maybe those are the parents that are the pedophiles," when listeners to WABC/770 AM heard a loud crash, the sound of crackling glass, tearing metal and then silence.
"Cheryl, are you OK?" co-host Ron Kuby said. "Cheryl? Cheryl?"
A faint voice responded, "Please call the cops."
Sliwa and Kuby could be heard trying simultaneously to reach her and to get help. Eventually a male voice said, "We're calling for an ambulance, ma'am."
"No, no, I've gotta get out of the car," Picker shouted.
As calls from witnesses poured into the station, the victim was removed from her 1998 Toyota RAV 4 and taken to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, where she was kept overnight, Sliwa said.
A witness who did not give his name told Suffolk County police that Picker was stopped by the side of the road when her car was hit from behind. No charges were filed against her or John Apperson of Rocky Point, driver of the 1999 Chevrolet that hit her, police said. Apperson was not hurt.
"There have been a lot of strange incidences in 12 years on the radio, but this takes the cake," Sliwa said later in a telephone interview. "The only thing that came close was two hours I spent on the air talking a jumper down from the George Washington Bridge.
"You always realize, particularly in drive time, that it's crunch time for the motorist going to and from work," Sliwa said, with no apparent irony. "It's bumper to bumper."
But, I'm even more glad that I don't have to routinely sift through endless duplicate articles to find the ones I haven't yet seen, just so those who didn't see them previously can get another chance. ;O)
This is one major problem with airbags, and it makes me wonder how many people have been killed indirectly by them because they scrambled needlessly out of the car.
The white powder that they use (talc, I think) to insure that the airbag unfolds properly and doesn't stick to itself, upon explosion of the bag, fills the car with what seems like thick smoke, leading the disoriented crash victims to think that the car is on fire.
Thank you God for a voice of reason. Either post about the article or shut up and read something else.
In 1986, WNBC-AM traffic reporter (and sometime actress) Jane Dornacker was involved in an accident in which the helicopter she was flying in unexpectedly crashed into the East River. She fortunately survived, and refused to fly for several months, until someone at the station convinced her to return to the skies.
On October 22, 1986, lightning struck twice as the exact same thing occurred. Unlike the last time, however, there were two very important differences: She did not survive, and the crash happened LIVE.
(Warning: The audio you will hear at this link you may find disturbing.)
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