Nowadays people seem to be completely glued to their phones. They’re constantly checking for messages, social media posts, you name it. They do it all the time, even when they really ought to put the phone away: at work, in the classroom, at family dinners, and of course, while driving. There have been numerous instances of selfie addicts snapping photos of themselves at funerals, grinning like they always do when taking a self-portrait!
Phone cameras have a way of coming out during accidents and disasters. In some ways, this isn’t a bad thing. Photos and videos taken by eyewitnesses can help with police with investigations and provide evidence for legal cases. For a homeowner, good documentation by cell phone camera could have a huge impact on an insurance adjuster’s number crunching. Amateur video has long been a staple of news reporting. Before long, historians will be arguing about cell phone videos.
But there’s also a dark side to camera phones when accident or disaster strikes. Instead of taking photos or shooting videos for some legitimate purpose, some people want to turn another person’s tragedy into their own entertainment. And indeed, the internet is rife with photos and videos of like that. Worse, gawkers trying to capture a good video can get in the way of rescue workers and other first responders.
Recently in Germany, a fatal highway accident had rubberneckers pointing their cell phone cameras at the carnage. This show of disrespect for the victims and their loved ones was too much for the firefighters who were on the scene and surely not having a nice day. Fortunately, they have a way to deal with this sort of thing: a fire hose! If someone in a passing vehicle was filming, they got a good blast from the hose.
Check out the video from the German TV news that’s posted below and let us know what you think in the comments at Facebook. Be sure to like and share: this may give firefighters everywhere some ideas…
