I stumbled onto this recent video about a car accident in October 1968 that killed four teenagers on Foothill Boulevard (aka Route 66) in Fontana, California..
Two other teens died on Foothill in other accidents the same weekend.
The video isn’t shot by a professional, so you’ll have shakiness and typical other things from an amateur. But, if you hang in there while watching it, he has an intriguing story to tell.
From the description:
In 1968 four teenagers from Fontana High School died in a tragic car accident on Foothill Blvd. There were six people total in three separate events that died on Foothill Blvd. that weekend. The story you will hear is as I was told last week. The event has stayed with my mother-in-law for the last 48 years. I have done my best to tell the story in a respectful, detailed, and accurate way.
The story also suggests why Route 66 also was called “Bloody 66” during much of its history. Roads during that era were narrower and more poorly designed, and cars lacked many safety features. The late 1960s was the time the United States typically experienced more than 50,000 traffic fatalities each year.
The most recent year, 2014, saw just 32,000 traffic fatalities — an impressive drop considering the nation’s population and number of cars keep rising.
Even with the terrible car-crash toll of the late 1960s, the rate of accidents still was going down and has fallen for almost 100 years. The rate of fatal traffic accidents was barely one per 100 million miles driven during the most recent recorded year of 2014. In the early 1920s, the rate was more than 20.
The inexorable decline in fatal crashes is an indisputable success story. You can credit safer vehicles, better-designed highways and advances in medicine for that.
But the video serves to remind people not everyone carries happy memories of Route 66.
(Excerpt from the video of an image of the four-fatality crash on Foothill Boulevard in Fontana, California, in October 1968)
I remember that they use to show the total number of fatalities on the holiday weekends (early 60s) on television. It was like a scorecard updated during the weekend.
In St Louis on North Lindbergh (bypass Route 66) by page, there was a sharp curve. Accidents always there with fatalities. Refered to locally as “Dead Man’s Curve”. Since, the curve has been straightened out drastically with other safety features added, like guard rails, etc, but accidents still happen.
Indeed, very interesting … and tragic … especially from 4:00 – 6:30.
On that night, my best friend April Waltrip & I were going to go with her cousin John bowling. I was going to stay overnight at April’s house. That day at school, I had an appendix attack. And my mom had to take me to kaiser. On Monday morning on the radio ,it announced the accident & what happened. I screamed for my mom. We called, April’s grandma said yes April was gone. I do know, when I couldn’t go, April told me ,they’ll get someone else to go. It was ok. I didn’t know who went in my place till that Monday morning, it was Georgia Shimp. May they all rest in peace. I miss you April. Jerry also had a twin brother Jim. They put the car on display at Rothko Chevrolet.
Hi Ginger,
I’m Alana Shimp’s (Georgie’s sister) granddaughter. I don’t have much family history, which led me here. I’d love to know if you know anymore about my family.