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Show Thursday, July 9, 1959 Page 3 THE VALLEY VIEW NEWS ANYTHING GOES Death on the Highway! To most of us it means merely a story in the newspapers. More, often than not we read only the headlines and spare ourselves the actual reading of the details. It doesnt make for pleasant reading and the comics and sport pages are more interesting anyway. The story of an accident is reported on the radio once or twice and the next day its in the newspapers. After that as far as were concerned its a thing of the past. Other accidents, involving other lives in other places take their place. But for the people involved and the witnesses to the accident it isnt as simple or short lived. Last Sunday, the last day of the 4th of July holiday I was travelling home from Nevada. The radio reported that so far only 172 people had lost their lives on the highways. The reporters cautioned everyone to drive carefully and if they did the actual carnage would fall short of the predictions of the National Safety Council. The weather was perfect, the roads were dry and the traffic was light. It was a pleasant day to drive along, listen to the radio and occasionally admire the scenery. The conditions were certainly not conducive to an accident. But then a car passed me, weaving to one side" of the highway and then the other. I followed as close as I dared for about thirty miles. Periodically the empty beer bottles were thrown out of the car by the driver. As he weaved from one side of the road to the other he occasionally forced an oncoming car onto the soft shoulder. He finally slowed down so I could pass his. Within five minutes I saw a Highway Patrol car coming in the opposite direction. I motioned him to stop and told him about the drunk driver behind me and suggested he stop him before he causes an accident. I followed the officer but by the time we arrived it was too d late. The drunk a car and drove it off the highway. The occupants, a young couple on their honeymoon, were badly shaken up but fortunately not hurt. The drunk was of course oblivious to everything that was going on. But a few miles later five people were not so lucky. A young couple, their small daughter, the drivers sister and another passanger were on a vacation from Canada. Perhaps it was their first visit to the United States and they wanted to see as much of our country as they could in the time they had alloted. Perhaps they had driven all night and they wanted to get to the parks while it was still daylight. side-swipe- By Rolf W. Q Kay ' AG Whatever the reason was, the driver fell asleep and' the car left the highway, ran across the desert for a few hundred feet and then hit a gulley. One of the young women was killed instantly. The young man, the only one that was not thrown clear of the car lived for a while but died in agony in a few minutes. The other three people were made as comfortable as they could be without moving them. The little child lay still. You couldnt tell if it was a boy or girl because of the cuts and bruises on its face and the blood drying in its hair. The mother knew, but she lay dead a few feet away. The knew but he was unconscious with a skull fracture. The childs aunt lay o nthe other side of the car, her eyes staring into the hot desert sun but not seeing anything. When the police and ambulance arrived the passengers that lived were bandaged up and put into the ambulance. It was then that the child started to cry and ask for its mother. But the mother was still unconscious so the child had to travel to the hospital with only a policeman to comfort her. After the injured were on the way to the hospital the dead were attended to. They were put into large, waterproof sheets and placed in the trunk of the police cars. The sheets are waterproof to keep the blood thats gushing out of their bodies from staining the cars. After the ambulances left some of us stayed to clear up the debris. We picked up the picnic baskets and the comic books and the little girls doll and put them in what was left of the car. So for the three people that lived this accident is certainly more than a newspaper item. A woman lost her husband and a little gir lost her father. There will be a long siege in the hospital in a strange country, hundreds of miles from home. And Sunday afternoon someone in Canada received a telegram telling them that their loved ones were in a fatal accident in southern Utah. Two lives were lost and many other lives were made sorrowful because a driver went to sleep at the wheel. All because a driver didnt pull over to the side of the road and sleep an hour or let someone else drive while he slept in the back seat. All because one driver though himself immune to auto accidents. All because, one driver thought that all those words of caution were meant for someone else, not him. All because one driver was certain, as we are all certain, that accidents always happen to someone else. But the fact remains that they do happen to someone. And that someone could be any of us. St. Paul's Lutheran Church 4511 West 5540 South Sunday School Worship Service 9:30 ajn. 11:00 a.m. Phone CY 73 Ray's Barber Shop North East Corner of Kearns Catering to Men Women and Children Closed Mondays - Except Week Containing a Holiday Brimley TV Service Makes, all Tubes Tested, Tuner and Glass Cleaned - Fast Service Honest Work - Guar. G. f. Tubes All Come and Join Calls Special $3.00 Phone CY 00 NEW! EXCITING! SWAP MEET Hyland Drive In Theater 3670 South Highland Drive EVERY SUNDAY 11:00 A. M. 5:00 P.M. -- Anything and Everything for Sale or Trade THE MEETING PLACE FOR BUYERS and SELLERS Bring this ad and get in FREE this Sunday only, July 12 FREE: sjr. at . . . OUR BINGO PARTY SATURDAY at 8:15 P. M. ST. FRANCIS PARISH HALL Jack Pot $210.00 (59 Numbers for - New Equipment Black-Ou- and Enjoy the full flavor bargain prices of todays delicious fruits and vegetables next January! An electric freezer refrigerator -- t) MANY FINE PRIZES - saves shopping trips and meal- making, too. You can always have a fingertip fine foods! selection of freezer-fres- h |