to think taking photographs of accidents is despicable behaviour

[wanderingaround]

There was a very serious crash here in Dublin yesterday in which a woman in her 30s died. The police are issuing appeals to people to stop posting images of the crash on line, out of respect for the bereaved family.

AIBU to wonder what kind of inhumane people would do this?

Yanbu, it's terrible behaviour. I hate people rubbernecking when they pass incidents, I really hate people slowing down or stopping to have a stare, and as for those who take pictures or videos, they're beneath contempt.

Despicable is a bit strong. In poor taste perhaps?

I think despicable is exactly the right word Racecardriver. These people get in the way of emergency services, upset already devastated families, and show no respect for the dignity of the dying person.

'In poor taste' might apply to wearing an inappropriate dress somewhere.

Of course it's despicable. Think of the family members seeing those pictures of their loved ones remains online. It's horrifying.

People killed it RTA's can be torn apart, that's the horrible reality.

People who do this are lower than low.

It's awful- however it can also be helpful to investigators, you often see appeals for witnesses/footage.

Look at 9/11 - thousands of people died but there is historical documenting of it.

I guess the motivation is wrong but it can be useful is what I'm saying.

Rubbernecking and trauma tourism is horrible.

However I do know someone who couldn't intervene in an incident situation but had the presence of mind to film it which resulted in a conviction.

My 4 year old DC was in a terrible accident in October, suffered a shocking injury and it took a long time before they could be stabilised enough to be moved to the ambulance. There were aprox 30-40 stood about filming and taking photos. Of a 4 year old screaming in pain and their siblings crying watching. I am still so fucking angry that people could be so disgusting. People have on their phones, pictures of my child in a traumatic condition, of me crying at their side.

So you are not being unreasonable!!

That's awful.

And I think there's a huge difference between taking a picture of a crash with the intention of helping insurance/police, and posting that picture online for what, "likes"?

The poor family.

I think it’s fucking disgusting.
It’s someone's mum/daughter/son etc etc

I collapsed a few years ago, when I came round a man was filming me. It’s like it’s some people’s default.

My dog is a policeman and has to stop people filming crash scenes regularly

People will even photograph and film bodies if they’re not very quick putting covers up.

Sick.

Unless you see something which you think may help investigators- in which case you take them no further than the police - then it’s awful

Those photos of the M50 accident were particularly horrific. Unfortunately I saw one, someone sent it to my DD, we thought is was a hoax. I believe the people who did this were arrested, though I don't know what they could be charged with. Despicable is too mild a word in my opinion absolute scum of the earth. That poor womans family my heart breaks for them.

There were pictures of her horribly injured body doing the rounds, despicable is the perfect word for it imo.

Ugh, what is wrong with people?

When Hillsborough happened, the press were heavily criticised for taking photographs, but it later proved to be invaluable evidence. Not only to provide more accurate timelines, but also for some of the relatives of victims to identify those that had attempted to save their loved ones.

They've also proven to be useful in the aftermath of bombings, where the public have been requested to send in their photos etc.

The motivations for taking them vary, but I do agree that the majority seem absolutely horrifically morbid, but they can still prove to be useful in some cases.

The police have few powers to stop the photography happening. Providing the photographer's on public land and not interfering with the investigation it's really difficult to stop.

Yanbu, I think it's fucking disgraceful behaviour.

I fortunately haven’t seen them, but I’ve heard how graphic they are.

I think there are some elements of society that have become totally desensitised to stuff that most people find horrific. The poor family of that woman doesn’t even get a thought.

The fact that so many people are getting sent these images and think “Oh, you’d know who’d love to see this? Linda from Accounts!” instead of just deleting it like any normal person genuinely frightens me.

I think it’s abhorrent & there is a huge difference between footage of Hillsborough/911 & someone dying or their body. It’s not entertainment.

That is terrible. My stepdad was knocked down and killed on a pedestrian crossing last month. Luckily we didn’t have anybody film it, but it would have been devastating to us if they had.

I think people take photos of this kind of thing almost as a shock response TBH.

Posting them online however...

It’s not even the taking the photos in the first place- I mean that’s bad enough, but it’s the dopes being sent them who are they’re forwarding them on. Just why???

Half of the country have seen them at this stage, like it’s a funny meme or something. That’s someone’s DD

I sort of get the taking pictures/filming, it seems to have become an automatic response these days plus it, I assume, has a distancing effect.

Posting them online? Inexcusable.

Other people then sharing them? Why on earth would you? I don't get this at all.

I think it comes from journalists TBH How often do you see journalists at some tragedy shoving a microphone in someone's face and asking them how they feel? That isn't journalism, it's voyeurism and it's exactly the same as what those picture takers are doing.

I remember a pervy man filming myself & a friend so I started filming him straight back. For some reason it made him very uncomfortable, he stopped & left.

If I saw someone doing this, I would film them filming. See how they like been splashed all over the news.