Was out on a ride today. Came across the remains of an accident that I ran through yesterday. Yesterday I did not realize what it was until too late, Shards of glass from a taillight.

Later down the road I had a flat due to a cut tire. Came across the same pile today. Not wanting to repeat the stupid mistake, I made yesterday and not wanting someone else to repeat my mistake, I stopped. I then laid the bike down and proceeded to clean up someone else's mess. A mess no doubt caused by some numbnuts that thought texting was more important than driving. And was too lame to clean up the mess they created but that is another story.

There was a lot of glass. I was there for a fairly long time. Pretty good shoulder but busy road. Lots of cars whizzing by. But shoulder is wide enough I was not too worried about getting hit. Well one of those cars (actually a pickup) stopped. The man got out of the truck very concerned. He saw the bike in the grass and was worried I was hit. I explained I was cleaning up the mess on the side of the road. It was so nice for him to stop and ask if I needed help. There are at least some good people in the world.

As far as me cleaning up the glass? On that same road there was a tree branch sticking out into the shoulder. It must have scratched my arm 2 or 3 times on different rides. Came close to running into it a couple of times too. Once I stopped to try to clear it but it was too large. Kept trying to remember to take a saw down there to clear it. Well before I could remember, someone beat me too it and cleared that branch. So I was just paying it forward. Hopefully the same person that cut that branch benefits from the cleaned up glass.

good on you for taking action. I try to sweep away such debris & cut away obstructing objects if possible.

Great start to a thread, spinnaker. Excellent thoughts and actions and results throughout.

I was actually more impressed with the driver that showed so much concern for me Didn't mean to toot my own horn. Wasn't the point of the post just explaining why I stopped.

But it still frosts me that someone left that mess behind. What is really scary is that same idiot that ran into the back of someone could just as easily hit a pedestrian or cyclist. It is extremely rare for traffic to be stopped at that part of the road so what likely happened is someone slamming into the rea of a slower moving vehicle. Someone not paying attention.

The guy I was riding with when I had my head injury years ago was one of those good people. Sadly, I went to his service four months later. He'd stopped on Boston's Southeast Expressway to drive home an intoxicated driver he had gotten to also stop. Another drunk drive struck him. (2am after his hospital shift ended.)

Ben

Good for you. Just be mindful you don't get hurt trying to do a good thing. Yes, I've cleared the roadway for cyclist and motorist too. Some debris lying in the road or path and I pulled it to the side.

Also, cleared away hanging/broken branches. One on the path sticking out so far you have to leave the path onto the road. Finally, remembered to put my hand clipper in my backpack and made quick work of those pesky branches (used to scrape my face every time I road by).

Thank you for being a positive in this world. In my little section of life it's not at all uncommon for people to stop and offer help. The best was when I rolled into an intersection that had a flashing red light. Cars at all 4 corners trying to get through. A town cop pulled into the intersection and threw on his lights and stopped traffic. Then he waved me through. Love it when people like that try to help us. As I rolled down the road he pulled up and said, "Wanna race?" I said, "If there's a beer in it, you're toast." He laughed and drove on.

I have cleared road obstructions countless times.

Someone actaully [sic] stopped! However, I have previously posted to this thread, “Delays you don’t mind,” particularly regarding cyclists helping motorists:

Again, the thread is not about road obstructions. It is about a driver that had a concern for my safety. Does anyone read?

Someone actaully [sic] stopped! I replied to this thread about the reciprocal situation: Call it “thread drift.”

Did the person who stopped have Minnesota plates by any chance?

Up here in the rural Upper Midwest, there are still plenty of nice and helpful people around. I've been doing things as simple as taking a roadside picture with my phone, and people in large vehicles have stopped to ask if I need assistance or a ride somewhere. For whatever reason, I think it's human nature to remember the bad and forget about the good.

In re the tree branch, MTBR has someone posting each spring about what’s the best folding pruning saw

How do you clean up glass in the road? (Many kudos to those who do.)

If I see a cyclist possibly in trouble, I offer help as I ride by. It recently dawned no me that I need to stop, because if I don't, I won;t hear any answer, since I don't ride with my hearing aids in my ears. A year or 2 ago, a rider needed a pump. I ride with a Zefal HP. Which didn't work. (I have since replaced the worn parts.)

Countless drivers have shown concern for my safety.

There are some decent people out there. One time I was sitting the side of the road on an embankment fixing a flat tire with my bike laid flat on the grass. A driver stopped and asked if I was okay. And I've done the same as a cyclist when I see another cyclist stopped at the side of the road.

Once on a ride with my wife she decided to try a diagonal curb hop, failing miserably. A woman passing by in her mini van stopped to see if we/she needed any help. Wifey was fine (aside from a bruised ego) but we were both shocked anyone would actually stop to offer assistance.

I can’t recall any driver ever stopping for me for any reason.


-Kedosto

One day on a club ride to Malibu, exiting Las Posas to Highway 1, the ramp was strewn with broken concrete block fragments, and several whole blocks. One of our group hit one and flatted, so we all stopped to "pick up the pieces". You can see the damaged rail, where somebody clipped it and lost part of their load. Nobody around, no cops, no Caltrans, so we cleaned it up as best we could. I pick up tree branches when I can, glass is not as easy to deal with, and probably more of a hazard to cyclists. One day on a club sponsored charity ride, one of the SAG drivers was using a small shop rag to push glass off the road. We finally borrowed a broom from an adjacent house.

Just picked it up piece by piece squatting down on the ground. With me on the ground like that and the bike in the weeds I could easily see how the man thought I was hit.

I understand. What bothers me are the glass shards that litter the roadway - it doesn't seem reasonable to ride with a broom.

My commute is on a highway between cities, and for the life of me I can't figure out why all the broken glass is on the northbound side.

I'm forever stopping to pick up after the blasted eucalyptus, and I have had a couple of cyclists stop to see if I was okay. Sweet.

I frequent a cycleway that has been around for over a decade, and is where I will be this afternoon (you will know why in a second).

Going through one part of it must be near a pub or members of an awful community that unfortunately exists nearby. Almost every Saturday and Sunday morning there have been broken beer and other alcohol bottles along it. I've stopped to clean it off on several occasions, and I have seen others doing it, too.

On the other hand, we have been frequenting a small town near us at weekend as I get back into cycling, and despite the route and paths we use, and the fact it starts and finishes near a boat launching ramp, not a single sign of the alcoholic or other drinking or household rubbish. A truly pleasant place to ride for us.

And oddly enough, I have had little issues with eucalyptus trees, but I am Australian and that is where they are native.

Who's the greater samaritan? The one who stops for an accident or the one who helped it from ever happening?

The only reason I feel a lot more people don't help in situation described here, is that their efforts are assumed redundant. It stands to reason that if you live in the more rural areas you would get more people to stop and offer assistance than those of us that live in major metropolitan areas.Anyone that offers to help qualifies as the good Samaritan. The only difference in your scenario is timing.