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Car Flips on the 4th

by Bill Dusty

The 4th of July brings picnics, parades and fireworks to tens of thousands of communities throughout the celebrating United States. But there are also hazards to be mindful of, too, as revelers can sometimes get a little carried away in their merry-making.

While visiting with Mike Dobbs the other day, I remember him commenting about how he and his wife are reluctant to leave their home on the day of our nation’s birth out of concern for just such party-goers. This is because folks in their neighborhood partake in the common custom of putting on private fireworks displays. And while those little community displays look awful pretty as they light up the neighborhood sky, the resulting falling cinders can sometimes wreak havoc after the spent pyrotechnics hit to the ground (or the roof of a house).

I could understand his anxiety – and I would understand it even more clearly later on that evening after a much larger object fell to earth after careening off the road and plowing through my front yard’s fence.

I was watching television with my buddy, Tony, that evening when a resounding crash-THUD suddenly interrupted our banter. Tony raced outside and quickly saw a vehicle at the end of my driveway and people inside struggling to get out.

“Bill! There’s a car flipped over on the driveway! Call 911!” he called out as I approached the door.

I hurried to my cell phone and called in for emergency personnel.

Meanwhile, Tony rushed up to the car. He later the police that the men inside had managed to out and they all quickly fled away into the darkness. (Otherwise known as leaving the scene of an accident.) Neighborhood people then swarmed the crashed vehicle – with some of them actually rifling through it to take things. (Otherwise know as looting.) You’d like to think that when a crisis strikes, Americans are a bit above such behavior. But apparently, such is not the case.

By the time I got out there, some folks actually had their little children with them as they all eagerly tried to get a closeup look-see. One mother even had her kid in a baby stroller drawn up next to the car. Not knowing if there was anyone else inside – nor the extent of any fire hazard, I urged the moms to get their children away…

Three or four ambulances then showed up, along with a fire truck shortly thereafter. They were joined by a Springfield police cruiser a few minutes later. Following up behind them a bit later was this CBS 3 vehicle – the first and only media on the scene (well, besides me).

The car ripped through a good portion of my front yard fence. A total loss. Amazingly, both rose bush plants that once decorated the chain-link fence survived the ordeal. There was drinking involved, naturally – we found a bottle of Corona resting by the car.

A woman soon arrived at the scene to declare that the car was stolen. But the Springfield cops didn’t believe her. (“The car was stolen and you knew right where to find it, huh?”) She later changed her story, admitting that it had not been stolen.

A wrecker eventually showed up to flip the car back up-right and haul away its remains. Notice the skid marks on the street in the second photo as the car came barreling through.

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Below are some daytime photos of the carnage.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Jul 5th, 2008 and filed under Latest Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.