An adult female in a professional interview setting for emergency services, with multiple vehicles including a car transporter truck on an outdoor highway under diffused natural light. 4:24
WELT Nachrichtensender channel icon WELT NachrichtensenderOriginal creator 665K views Save

A fire hose for drivers filming a crash

Firefighters on a German highway were working a deadly crash when drivers going past began pointing their phones at it. more

Slowing down to stare at a wreck is an old habit. Filming it from a moving car is a newer one, and it was too much for the crew on the scene. So they reached for the fire hose.

Firefighters spray water toward a car carrier truck stacked with cars on a wet road. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Fed up with the filming, the firefighters turn to the fire hose.

The deal was simple. If someone driving past was filming, they got a good blast of water.

An adult female in a professional interview setting for emergency services, with multiple vehicles including a car transporter truck on an outdoor highway under diffused natural light. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Firefighters on a German highway were working a deadly crash when drivers going past began pointing their phones at it.

Out on the wet road, crew members in safety gear stood near a car carrier truck stacked with cars. Drivers hunting for a good shot can get in the way of people like them, the rescue workers who are there to help.

Workers in safety gear stand near a car carrier truck loaded with vehicles on a wet road. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Crew members in safety gear stay out on the wet road by a car carrier truck.

Phone cameras at an accident aren't always a bad thing. Photos and videos from people who saw it can help the police and back up a court case or an insurance claim. News reports have used footage from bystanders for a long time.

Holding up a phone from a passing car to turn someone's tragedy into a show is something else. To the firefighters, it was a lack of respect for the victims and the people who love them.

A person with glasses and pulled-back hair, in a dark jacket over a white shirt, looks slightly to one side. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The firefighters saw the filming as a lack of respect for the victims and their loved ones.

Under the German news report, most commenters take the firefighters' side. The top comment says, in German, that it was the right thing to do, and another says the man on the hose should get a reward.

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