Woman witnesses fatal crash, walks away while eating pizza

If you witnessed a fatal accident, how would you react? One woman in New York City sort of...didn't react...at all...unless you count glancing behind you momentarily before continuing to stroll along as you eat a slice of pizza as "reacting." Not everyone has it in them to be a Good Samaritan, but this seems pretty cold.

On Sunday in Brooklyn, 30-year-old art curator Victoria Nicodemus was killed when an SUV jumped a curb on Fulton Street, striking two other pedestrians, her boyfriend and an elderly woman. At the same time, security footage shows a woman exiting a pizza shop. As she walks out, the SUV is seen lurching onto the sidewalk. The footage is grainy, but clearly the accident happened right next to the woman, and yet she expresses nothing other than mild curiosity as other witnesses and passersby spring into action. After a few seconds, she takes a bite of pizza and saunters off as a human being lies dying on a sidewalk.   

According the New York Times, this accident is the 20th pedestrian fatality in NYC in which the person walking was on the sidewalk when they were struck. This has prompted outrage by the group Transportation Alternatives, who say that the sidewalks are “where New Yorkers are supposed to be safe from traffic,” a sentiment that is probably (hopefully) universal.   

With all of the popular pizza memes occupying the internet, and with New York being home to #pizzarat, one can only hope that the web responds to this woman's apparent lack of soul with a hashtage that is suitably shaming. #pizzatragedywoman? #pizzaheartlesslady? 

Comments

its sad the way we place so much hate on people for things we know nothing about. If you weren't there, shut up! Narrow minded assumptions are dangerous. 

But we DO know something about this woman. We know that while she was on the sidewalk eating pizza, she witnessed a horrific accident in which somebody died. We watched her casually stroll away from the scene after giving it a couple curious glances. At the very least she could have remained on the scene to make a police report about what she saw. I'd say that since there is video evidence of what we do know about this situation, we certainly have the right to judge her behavior. I can't think of a good excuse to not help people in any way you can, even if it is minimally. You don't really have to be somehwere to have an opinion on a situation.

You're saying your sins are less than her sins. Wrong. Period. Stop letting anonymity give you passive-aggressive courage. You had no opinion prior to this. You may have reacted the same out of shock. Seeing as that is a real medical condition... Nope, you don't have the facts. You are what's wrong with this country.

You are correct. I'm fed up with it to. A bunch of no-nothings thinking they have some sort of God ability to know everything about an event that they can comment on it. They need a good slap upside their head

was it you lilly eating the Pizza! pictures are worth a million words!

"Ooooh, here come my professional, well-researched rebuttals to something I had absolutely ZERO passion about before I had seen video" "Oh, I also hope that situation never happens in my life... because I'd look like a reeeeal hypocrite."

Really? Thinking that someone should help after witnessing an accident is the problem with this country? My money is on people who don't care enough about their fellow humans ruining this country, actually. As someone who has both witnessed an accident and stopped to help as well as been helped by strangers after accidents of my own, I surely hope that if you're in an accident someone doesn't just wander off eating pizza instead of helping you because that would be really shitty.

And the day will come when she needs help and perhaps no one will be there for her ?

In the state in which I live, people are encouraged NOT to help accident victims as they can be held accountable by law if the person is injured or dies. People will sue for money over anything, even if it's after the brutal death of a loved one and even when the person they're suing was trying their best to help. Honestly, most of us would like to think we'd help the victims -- and many of us would -- but some of us would realize there's nothing we could do, there's no way we could afford such a lawsuit, and with how people have become so dangerous, we're encouraged not to intevene. So we would "stay in our own lane," as it were. No, it's not right, but it's not inherently evil of the woman either. Somehow, I feel that both lawful and cultural rules make this a very confusing thing, especially for the woman. And as someone who works with trauma victims -- you honestly don't know how a person will act in any situation. The brain isn't flawless; it still heavily relies on instincts, and when you're getting signals from all different directions, how do you choose? And still, she saw a horrible accident, and we know nothing more of her. I personally cannot judge someone for that.

Godd Samaritan laws protect people in the event they try to lend aid...read your local laws and educate yourself...now if that person you aide is a jerk, they might try and sue you, but the courts are supposed to protect GS acts.

1. She looks a little drunk, from her walking. 2. Other people were already rushing in, and one more person wouldn't have made a positive difference.  Especially if she was drunk. 3. She did not see the accident.  She turned around after the impact.  She would have nothing to contribute to a police report, so it's pointless for her to hang around for that. 4. Maybe she's just not a Type A personality.  Some people feel a need to be involved, or in charge, or whatever.  Others don't.  She seemed to want to know if the victims were okay... it would explain her repeatedly turning back to see what was going on.  But regardless of the life or death going on, there was nothing she could do to fix it, and she apparently would have felt weird about just standing there and watching, so she left... hoping that everyone was okay. If you're going to condemn someone, why focus on a bystander who had nothing to do with the accident?  Aren't you wondering why the vehicle went up on a sidewalk?  Wtf was wrong with the driver?  

Why worry about the Lady and not the Driver?

You know in America everyone has RIGHTS meaning she has the RIGHT to ignore or assist.  So, don't judge her too harshly because of something you may or may not respond to.

What happens when they find out who she is and she gets arrested for failure to stop and render aide.i see people arrested for that in austin texas all the time just for doing exactly what she did. And im sorry but you got to be sick in the head to see someone die and just turn your back and walk away eating. Sorry id be puking not eating.

You're mistaken about why there are arrests for failure to render aid in Austin - only medical providers have an obligation to act in an emergency.  However, if a driver doesn't stop after being involved in a crash then yes, they are charged with felony "failure to stop and render aid", it was upgraded to a felony because of all the drunks that are in a collision and figured it was better to run than take responsibility for their actions.  As for this lady,  I would have liked to see her at least pull out her phone and call 911 but who knows what state of mind she's in, she may not be capable of doing much . . .

OK, you selfish pricks, she was under no legal obligation to help, BUT SHE ATE PIZZA IMMEDIATELY AFTER SEEING SOMEONE DIE. THAT IS WEIRD AND WRONG. No one (including me!) was saying that she HAD to help, just that her reaction was basically to shrug and EAT PIZZA.

I totally agree with you how could any sane human witness that and just pretend it didnt happen. Only a sycopath. Any who disagree should go to some IOP classes about mental health.

With all of the terrible things that occur almost daily in this country and around the world, it is little wonder that she would choose to react in this way. People who judge this woman as being heartless or uncaring are simply not informed enough about the situation and the people involved to rightly make that decision. You don't know what happen in this woman's life, or how she was affected, or whether she even fully perceived what was even occurring before her eyes! Just because you assume you would have seen this or that or understood what happen the fact remains, most likely, that you were not there. And even if you were there, you do not know all of the facts and any judgments made beyond a full understanding of the facts is misplaced. He who judges a matter before he hears it (or knows it completely) is a fool. There is no way anyone could no the full scope of why she made any decision. And the TRUTH is that she more than likely could have offered very little in the way of help even if she had responded in the way people's emotions seem to dictate they should. If you people really want to get upset about something, why not try asking yourself why millions look on and even APPROVE of the systematic slaughter of the unborn in this country? Why do they not matter? How can YOU hear about THEM and just go about your day like nothing ever happened? Or what of all the victims in places all over the planet that are oppressed, opposed, and murdered wrongfully. You can crucify this woman but you allow yourself the luzury of a pass? Stop being hypocrites. 

Technically she didn't witness it. By the way she was acting, she seemed to to under the influence of 'something'. If you watch carefully, she had her back to the whole accident. Looks like the victim is run over and then the car comes to a stop, and that is when she slowly turns around and seems somewhat buzzed. I know she didn't see the person getting run over. Weird, yeah. But did she 'Witness' the accident? No.  

I find the people making excuses for her to be really baffling. Maybe she didn't witness the accident, maybe she was under the influence of something, and maybe she was under no obligation to help out. Whatever. Her reaction was still bizarre and distasteful. Perhaps if it happened further down the block it would make sense--but it was right behind her! When she turned around, she could see that people had been run over by that SUV. Personally, I would have either stuck around to find out if the victims were okay--even if my assistance wasn't needed--or I possibly would have run away to avoid seeing a grisly scene as I have a weak stomach. The one thing I would not have done is just casually stroll away stuffing pizza into my mouth. It's just freaking weird.

Maybe she was in shock. That could be why she turned around and saw, what very closely could have been her, dying on the sidewalk... And when you experience this shock you kind of stumble around as if your intoxicated.

All of You apologists here are disgusting. You're just like her.

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