Comcast Employee Rescues Driver From A Submerged Car
Add "rescue people from an underwater car" to the list of things Comcast is better at than installing cable.
From The Oregonian:
According to Oregon State Police, Mendoza Olvera was driving south on Interstate 5 near milepost 230 when it accelerated and hit the back of a commercial semi-trailer. Mendoza Olvera's Suzuki Sidekick then went into the center median and continued several hundred feet before going over a 40-foot embankment and into Oak Creek. The car was upside down in about four to five feet of water.
Police said Comcast employee Jay Burris, 36, from Salem, stopped to help. He ran down to the water and pulled Olvera out. She regained consciousness after being pulled from the water.
Two other men also stopped to help and the three of them flipped the car over to make sure there were no more passengers. The person they rescued was cited for reckless driving and not having a license.
Driver rescued from submerged car by bystander [The Oregonian]
(Photo: Oregon State Police)
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Comments:
hope he doesnt get fired for helping others. :)
What, no Above and Beyond tag?
If you get confused by Mendoza being a woman, according to the article her name is Beatriz Mendoza Olvera.
Mendoza Olvera was not using a seat belt at the time of the crash. She was cited for reckless driving and no operators license.
Is an operators license different from a regular drivers license? The Suzuki Sidekick is just a regular car, not a truck or anything.
Good rescue, snarky post. I don't know how I feel about this. I hate Comcast as much as the next guy but in this instance I think Consumerist should cut them some slack.
After all, Comcast could have a policy that prevents their employees from getting involved, and two days from now we might hear that Jay has been fired...
It's a good thing it was 4-5 feet of water, since Comcast caps their rescuing depths at 6 feet.
Hope the person saved is not a comcast customer. He might get a bill for this.
@pecan 3.14159265: I think it depends on the state. When I lived in Michigan I first had an operator license, then when I upgraded to a chauffeur license it was deemed "higher" (as in higher fees) than a standard operator license.
MENDOZA! *shakes fist*
@pecan 3.14159265: In Oregon, your operator's license is your driver's license. It's what they call it.
@justsomeotherguy: I worked at Comcast when this happened: [www.multichannel.com]
Those techs were definitely not fired, in fact it was the other way around. They were praised by the company for the hero status they had earned.
"And the comcast employee was subsequently fired for being late to his next service appointment."
Wait. That'll never happen. Comcast doesn't care if you're late.
"I'll be there sometime between 8AM and 7PM to rescue you from your vehicle."
....24 hours pass with no rescue....
"Oh our tech says he knocked and knocked and knocked and no one answered. You weren't in your car."
"We want our customers to know that Comcast takes drowning very seriously."
Then he accidentally lit the car on fire.
And next month the victim will find a $75 "saved from drowning fee" tacked on to their bill.
I never had Comcast, but that's how my cable company worked.
@Paladin_11: I agree completely. If it was Zappos there would be balloons and happy kitty pictures. But since this is a company Consumerist holds a Vendetta against...there isn't a single mention of 'You do employ the occasional person that is willing to risk their lives to help their fellow man.' I am sure this will follow with several "zomg liten up itz jus a joak zomgz!" And a few "risked his life is going overboard." And "this guy must work for Comcast ROFLMAO!!!!1ONE" But for all this guy knew, the car was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. So Good job Comcast. Now one more thing, why doesn't my supposed Power Boost ever take me to 12 MBPS?
Comcast then celebrated by launching a DDOS attack on Consumerist.com.
Bingo. If you can get fired for helping chase down a thief who steals a customer's purse, then why not this. After all, there is now judicial precedent that bystanders can be sued for giving "improper" aid, especially if the victim ends up having lifelong injuries from this.
It doesn't matter if the victim was driving recklessly if the injuries were caused by the Comcast employee's "reckless disregard for human life" and "exacerbated injuries suffered" by the victim. I'm sure an attorney will just see $$$.
@strandist: No. Because Meg forgot to mention that the Comcast truck was supposed to be there for the rescue between 10 and 2...and it was 4:30.
I think using a prevented tragedy and a fairly heroic rescue as an opportunity to take cheap shots at Comcast is in somewhat poor taste.
WTF you talking about?
Comcast is quite capable of installing cable, yeah they're not on time, but hell Comsumerist is a website that can't keep themselves on the net.
So yeah, shit happens. Cut them a break. You couldn't do better, Meg.
@ShruggingGalt: @justsomeotherguy: Good Samaritan laws are in place in most states that absolve you of retribution from rescuing someone from a life threatening situation.
In the case of the purse, no ones life was in danger, so it would not factor into a case like that.
@balls187: Last I checked, it wasn't Meg's responsibility to keep the website on the net or shill for Comcast.
Quit bashing Comcast at this nice guy's expense! Most Comcast techs (at least in my area) are contractors who drive their own vehicles. When I had Comcast, I loved the techs they sent out to install the system then fix an issue that was coming from Comcast's main system. They didn't burn down my apartment and were nice people so it was cool that they showed up an hour late (appointment no later than 12:00; guy got there at 1:00). I think the reps overbook them so its not their fault directly. Comcast guy has to squeeze in lunch too!
I can't say the same for the call center CS (as an ex-call center worker myself, they stink)
Am i the only one that read the headline as "Comcast Employee Rescues Diver From A Submerged Car"?
@mcnerd85: Stories like this serve to remind us that even if the company as a whole sucks, the people who work there are still human.
"Mendoza Olvera was driving south on Interstate 5 near milepost 230 when it accelerated and hit the back of a commercial semi-trailer."
What made the milepost accelerate?
@rondalescott:
No doubt. I'll have to remember this the next time Ben says the commenters aren't behaving themselves.
@ShruggingGalt: This guy wasn't necessarily working or on duty at the time. That makes it a completely different situation as the store security cases.
@justsomeotherguy: I thought the same this as soon as I read this.
It is a truely sad thing that we would even have to think this.
@ShruggingGalt: What judicial precedent? In all my CPR training we have been told that as long as you tell them if you are certified (or not) and ask if they want help then they can't sue you for anything. If they are unconscious like this lady was, it's implied that she wants help, so they had a green light.
@henrygates: Not just for saving her. The issue would be his life. It does not say, but if he was on the clock and HE got hurt trying to save her, his family would surely sue comcast.
I wonder if THIS is why the Comcast guys never showed up for my installation appointment!!
I wonder if THIS is why the Comcast guys never showed up for my installation appointment!!
The poor guy, when he does show up late he'll get blasted by the customer because face it, with Comcast's record, no one is gonna buy that excuse.
This guy will be fired by comcast because it is against company policy to save drowning people or some such thing.