Going back sixty years, there wasn't the usual jolly Grim Reaper safety ad in the pages of the Journal at this time in 1963. But there was this nearly full-page ad showing an impressive pile up of wrecked cars. It appeared in the Journal on July 3, 1963.
As the ad copy notes, "Bad enough, to see your accident-smashed car wind up on a junk heap. But the grimmest part of the picture doesn't show here. Behind these wrecks likes a tragic toll in precious lives lost, years of suffering and handicap to be endured. This, indeed, is your BEST reason to drive carefully."
But sixty years later, we never seem to learn.
After years of commuting to Cleveland on I-90 and witnessing reckless, high-speed drivers endangering others on a daily basis, I thought that my leisurely commute to Oberlin would be different. However, even though most of my trip is on two-lane Baumhart Road, I still see crazy drivers, driving much faster than the speed limit, passing illegally and narrowly avoiding head-on collisions at the last moment.
And not unlike the illustration in the 1963 ad, I see a flat bed truck carrying mangled cars to a fenced-in lot on the north side of U. S. Route 6, just west of Baumhart, on a daily basis. Those cars have to come from somewhere – and I think there's a steady supply in Lorain County.
4 comments:
Yes it's weird that the old Ford plant "new car" parking lot on the north side of Lake Road is now a holding yard of junked and wrecked late model vehicles.There was an article in the paper about how the city was surprised that a business like that slipped in there under their nose.But I don't think anything was done about it as they're hauling junk in and out of there by the hour.Anyways,Happy 4th of July everyone.Be safe.
Be Careful Out There!
People are worse, now, I think, driving with their phones and distracting touch-screens, but I recall driving to my work in downtown Cleveland back in the '80s, people reading newspapers, folded and placed on their steering wheels, while hurtling down the 6-lane at 65 mph. Or people shaving their faces. Or putting on make-up.
The world is full of stupid-stupid-stupid drivers. Let's all try real hard not to be them!!!
Happy Independence Day. Stay outta the morgue!
I don't drive because I have a phobia about it, and probably half of it is due to other people.
I hear ya. I got rid of a small car that I loved because I felt so unprotected from idiot drivers in huge vehicles. Three of my friends have been injured by distracted drivers missing red lights or drifting across lanes. One almost didn’t make it and spent months in the hospital and rehab. There was compensation, but all of drivers got away just with tickets and points!
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