Oh yes, you can

One of my very least favorite plot devices is the foolish/impetuous action which imperils the heroine. Double annoyance points if the heroine's impetuous foolishness is powered by an alleged concern for others. Twenty pages into Ellen Crosby's The Bordeaux Betrayal plucky Lucie Montgomery is confronted with an overturned SUV in a river. Wisely, she firsts calls 911 to summon help. Nobly, and despite needing a cane to walk, Lucie ventures into the river to see if the driver is alive and if she can help before the ambulance arrives. So far, so good. Sadly, the driver is dead.

Let's have an I.Q. test, shall we?

Should Lucie:

1. Go back to the riverbank to await help?
2. Go back to the riverbank and call 911 again to update them
3. Go back to the riverbank and polish your cane
4. Attempt to remove the driver - who is suspended upside down - from the SUV and take her back to shore

Yes, answers 1 through 3 are viable options. Option 4 is what Lucie does, resulting, you guessed it, physical injury, a lost cane and a very suspicious scene for the police to happen upon. And when someone asks Lucie WHY she engaged in such epic stupidity she tells them "I couldn't just leave her hanging there."

Oh yes, you can, Lucie. Especially since you had no reasonable chance of getting her back to shore, you numb skull.