Yesterday there was an accident

on my regular bicycle route. I had heard an ambulance coming along the main road as I rode through the small park near the library.
It was in full emergency mode - lights, siren and horn as it went through red lights at the pedestrian crossing.  The sight and sound always leave me feeling anxious. At very least lives are being turned upside down and there is always the possibility that someone who set out just a little while before is no longer alive. As there are four schools very close I am also conscious it could be a child.
When it had gone I used the pedestrian crossing and then pedalled on. I turned into the street which is the designated "bicycle route". There, several blocks down, were the flashing lights - more than one set of flashing lights. I turned my tricycle around and went up to the parallel street and went that way. I did not need to get in the way. I did not need to gawk. I did not want to know.
A moment later another cyclist passed me. We know one another by sight.
      "Don't think I want to know about that," he said.
I could only agree. I resumed my normal route a little later, even more cautiously than usual. Traffic makes me nervous. I hate excessive speed. I loathe impatient, careless drivers.
On my return journey an hour or so later everything was quiet. The police were still there but their lights were no longer flashing. I still turned up the steet before I reached them and went the long way around. I know other people would have gone to look but I have never been able to do that.  Unless I can do something to help I need to move on.