Society

Young Woman Takes Selfies After Boyfriend Crashes Car Going 112 Miles Hour

Ruth Kamau  ·  April 8, 2016

PHOENIX, April 8, 2016 — In a story that left people scratching their heads, a 22-year-old woman snapped selfies right after her boyfriend wrecked their car at a hair-raising 112 miles per hour on a busy highway. It was one of those moments that sounded too wild to be true, but witnesses and police reports backed it up.

The crash happened late Friday night when the couple, who hadn’t been identified publicly, were speeding through the desert outskirts of the city. Authorities said the boyfriend lost control on a sharp curve, sending the vehicle skidding off the road and into a ditch. Miraculously, neither suffered serious injuries, though the car was totaled. Speeding tickets are common enough around here, but hitting 112 mph? That turned heads at the scene.

What really caught everyone’s attention was the woman’s decision to pull out her phone and start posing for pictures amid the chaos. She posted a few shots to social media, showing off the mangled wreckage with a smile and a caption that read something like “Close call!” Friends and followers online reacted with a mix of shock and amusement, with one person commenting that it was the most Arizona thing they’d ever seen. I mean, who thinks about their Instagram feed right after dodging what could have been a fatal accident?

This incident sparked a bigger conversation about how social media pulls us in, even in the worst situations. Back in 2016, with smartphones everywhere, it wasn’t uncommon for people to document their lives on the fly, but this took it to an extreme. Police used the photos as evidence in their investigation, which led to charges against the boyfriend for reckless driving. All in all, it served as a stark reminder that sometimes, the urge to share can wait until you’re safe and sound.