Brakes Fail on the Yakima River Embankment
A young woman leaped into a runaway automobile as it rolled toward a ditch, highlighting the dangers of early car ownership.
Miss Blanche Clements, driving her father’s automobile, narrowly escaped death or serious injury last Friday when the car took a header into the deep ditch just across the Yakima river south of town. The young lady left the car at the top of the incline at that point while she proceeded to open the pasture gate leading to her home. The emergency brake failed to hold, and the car started down the grade. Seeing the machine moving, Miss Blanche, with rare courage, sprang into the seat and endeavored to veer it toward the gate, but with no success, the car going head on over the embankment, the lady escaping unhurt. The impact was so great, however, that all of the spokes in one of the front wheels were broken out and the radius rods bent double.
“Seeing the machine moving, Miss Blanche, with rare courage, sprang into the seat.”
Early automobile accidents were frequently reported with a focus on 'pluck' or 'courage' in the face of machine failure, reflecting a time when the car was an intimidating new presence on local roads. Today, road safety technology has evolved, but the vulnerability of navigating the river topography near Richland continues to shape local travel.
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