COPS IS FILMED ON LOCATION
On Friday night, Bryan and I are returning from the Village after a sushi dinner. We’re walking along University Blvd. and we’re near the bus loop and the pool. Our conversation is interrupted when we watch this black coupe turn onto Uni Blvd. from the bookstore. The car procedes to accelerate immediately and it’s pedal to the metal all the way. When reaches Bryan and I, it looks like he’s doing at least 80 kph on a road that is not safe to travel at that speed. To our surprise, he continues to accelerate past us, so for sure he’s beyond 80 kph now. As we look back, I notice two things: one, it’s a nice black Mercedes, very late model… and two, the light he’s fast approaching is already green. I know the intersection of Uni Blvd. and Wesbrook has fairly fast lights. I think to myself, “Wow, I hope he makes the light at that speed…”
He’s out of our view now, so Bryan and I turn back to look forward. We continue to walk forward for about four more seconds, when we hear… screeeeeeech….. BAM!!!!
Bryan and I look at each other. It is obvious what car was just involved in that. From where we are, we can’t see anything. However, people at the bus stop near the intersection are now streaming towards the traffic lights. We decide to walk back to the intersection.
When we get there, we can see throngs of people milling about. The black coupe has come to rest right in front a pole on median running north-south. It’s entire front end is smashed in. The airbags have deployed. I can’t see anyone in the car though. On the median running east-west is an old, red Pontiac Sunfire. It’s right front tire has been blown out and windshield has been heavily cracked. There are lots of people surrounding the Sunfire.
I ask the guy standing next to me if he saw what happened. He says no, but he tells us there are two people in the Sunfire. We tell him we saw the black car tear it down the road. We ask where the driver of the Mercedes is. He points to this guy in the crowd. He sticks out like a sore thumb because he’s in 50’s or so among the throng of 20-somethings. That’s the guy? He’s old enough to be my father. One guy is keeping close to the driver. When the driver walks, he walks with. He’s thinking what I’m thinking… flight risk. Nonetheless, he looks unscathed… perfectly fine.
I ask if anyone has called the accident in. Some guy with a cell phone says yes. About 30 seconds later, two RCMP cruisers, an ambulance, and a fire truck arrive on scene. They do so simulataneously because all three are stationed less then 20 metres apart just a km down Wesbrook. The fire guys do a circle of the scene and they actually leave.
The EMTs start working on the two people in the Sunfire. I’m not even sure if they looked at the driver of the Mercedes. Two RCMP constables are now talking to everyone, the uninjured driver, witnesses… After a few minutes, the female RCMP member on scene crosses the street toward Bryan and I.
“Gentlemen, I hear you saw one of the cars approach the intersection?”, she asks us.
We tell her yes, but we did not see the accident itself.
“Would like to make a statement for us?”
We say sure. She leads us to the back of her cruiser. She pops open the trunk and pulls out two clipboards. She gives us instructions on how to fill out the forms. She grabs a camera to take some photos and leaves Bryan and I to write on top of the trunk.
As we start writing, the driver of the Mercedes saunters over to us and takes a quick peek of my paper before I could react. “Take a seat over there”, I tell him. I then realize he might have seen my name. Oh well, it’s not like my name is on the Internet or something. The dude walks off and we continue to write in silence.
I look up and they’ve taken out the occupants of the Sunfire now. They’re both on stretchers. The weird thing is that Bryan and I can’t figure out if the cars actually hit each other. It doesn’t look that way. We surmise that the cars probably saw each other in time to swerve…. into different medians and poles. Of course, our statements contain nothing about the accident but only about the black coupe and its bid to make the Kessel run in record time.
We both finish our statements but the RCMP members are busy still. With all the emergency vehicles now, the buses are being re-routed around the crash. The whole intersection is a mess. I notice that the ambulance hasn’t left yet, which I gathered was a good sign. If they were in serious trouble, they would have been whisked off immediately after extraction. Meanwhile, the uninjured driver is asking the cops how he’s getting home. “Will I be driven home or should I call a taxi?”
While we patiently wait for the cops to take our statements, Bryan asks me a question.
“Have you ever had both hands on the back of a police car before?”
“No.”
We look at each other and simulataneously put down the clipboards, and place our hands on the trunk. Ok, enough of that.
Moments later, a constable comes over, checks our forms for completeness, thanks us, and sends us off on our way.
“Wow, we can be called into court now,” I say.
“Yeah.”
From the time we saw the Mercedes to when we left the scene was about thirty minutes. It seemed a lot longer than that.
It’s almost Tuesday now, but I wonder what happened to the people in the Sunfire. I’m sure they were ok. And what did really happen at that intersection. I wonder if I should go over to the RCMP station and ask?