boss281
Ultimate Member
I don’t want to derail H’s DQ thread but this story is worth discussing.
I delivered the Evening Capital back then. I remember reading the horrible story on the front page as I was folding papers. My neighbor was the chief at Earleigh Heights and he filled my parents in on some details which were not reported. I recall one victim was found impaled to a tree. I would guess you were probably just a few years older than those “kids” at the time. Seeing a scene like that today would probably result in some mandatory counseling. Back then I guess you just had to suck it up and move on and cope.
I have told the story to my children during our lessons in drivers training. I’ve even tried to find more details about the accident to reinforce the impact to them, but I was unsuccessful, because I couldn’t remember the date and exact location.
I’ve often wondered what happened to the driver. What became of his life and how did he live with the weight of such tragedy.
I remember the sentence was incredibly light. Alan Cole pretty much went off the radar after that. That year I was in the last month or so of my undergrad at WVU, and heard about it via letter from one of my friends. I didn't know any of the families although I partied at the Patuxent ponds in my mid teens. That particular corner, as mentioned above, was a common spot for accidents and the guard rails constantly getting replaced. My '69 Roadrunner slid around that corner on wet leaves doing about 40, way too fast for that car even in dry weather. It was a common mistake even for those growing up in the area like I did (next to Arundel High School). Piney Orchard destroyed much of that original road although that stretch is still there. I remember Hurricane Agnes flooding the river and coming over the bridge, sweeping my Dad's car (a '64 Ford wagon) to the side about 3 feet when I tried crossing it like a dip$h!t. Lots of good and bad memories from the area '67-79.