"You can go down along

the footpath if you want to," the policeman told me, "Just be careful."
I had come to a halt. I was on my way to see an elderly friend when I turned the corner and found a policeman at one end of the street. At the other end of the street there were crumpled cars, two ambulances and three police cars.
There were also any number of gawkers because it is a busy area.
"No, that's fine. I can go back and go in the back way. There are too many people down there now."
He looked at me and then said, "Most people would want to go and look."
"I am not most people. I avoid anything like that unless I need to be there. I can't do anything to help so I don't need to be there."
And I didn't need to be there. The nursing home has a back entrance. It is the deliveries entrance but I knew that someone would let me in.
And they did. One of the staff was actually coming out as I was parking my tricycle against a post in the street.
"Don't leave it there. Put it in the staff parking. You can get out under the boom gate."
She waited and then unlocked the door for me to go in.
It is quite a long hike along the corridors and I had to let myself in and out of several doors which require you to push in codes. 
I found the elderly friend and delivered the shopping I had done for her. She was unaware of the accident and I did not enlighten her.
As usual other residents wanted me to say hello, however briefly and I did.
On my way out of the wing one of the staff stopped me and asked if I had come in the way I usually do.
I told her no, that I had avoided it because of the accident.
"That's good. I was so worried you might have been involved. Somebody came in saying a cyclist had been hurt."
Thankfully no cyclist had been hurt. I actually met the cyclist as I left. He had seen the accident happen and used his mobile phone to call the emergency services. He is one of the regular staff at the nursing home.
"I saw you talking to the cop Cat," he told me.
"He would have let me through," I told him, "But I decided to come in the back way. There were too many people up there already."
"They were a damn nuisance,"he told me, "Thankfully nobody seems to be seriously hurt."
I left by the same detour as I had arrived. The policeman was still on the corner directing traffic away from the scene. There was still a crowd of gawkers. 
The policeman gave me a nod as I passed and then I heard him telling someone, 
"No, unless you live in this street you have to go the other way."
What is it with people? I want to go the other way!