Car Accident Story

Who: Roger Clementine, John Jacob Jingleheimer-Smith and wife Melba
What: got in a car accident
When: at 4:45pm this afternoon
Where: the intersection of First Street and Slaughter Lane
Why: Clementine had used his Uncle's Studebaker and was going 60 miles per hour in the wrong side of the lane. The Smiths were driving 10 miles per hour and got hit by Clementine.
How: the 1989 Yugo the Smiths were driving hit the Studebaker, Clementine's car, in a head-on collision.

At 4:45 this afternoon at the intersection of First Street and Slaughter Lane, 13 year old Roger Clementine had a head-on collision with John Jacob and Melba Jingleheimer-Smith after Clementine drove 60mph in the wrong lane.

"I thought I was driving pretty good, until I saw the front window of a car and at that moment I realized I was driving in the wrong lane. I could see the terrified looks on their faces, but it was too late to stop," Clementine said.

The Smiths were driving their Yugo a slow 10 miles per hour on the far eastbound lane of Slaughter Lane heading east.

"My husband and I were driving down the road, and the next minute our car was smashed and I was being taken to the hospital," Melba Jingleheimer-Smith said. "I was frightened for my husband's sake, but I was more angry at this boy, who was stupid enough to speed down a road, underaged and unsupervised."

Henry Green witnessed the entire collision as it occurred.

"I was walking on the sidewalk on Slaughter Lane when I saw a really young boy speeding down the road with no sign that he was going to stop, " Green said. "I watched one of the cars crumple under the weight of his and heard the crunching of metal. I can't imagine what was going through his mind when he hit them."

The police cited 13 year old Roger Clementine for driving without a license, and Roger confessed that he had been driving his uncle's Studebaker.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear. I took my uncle's car out driving because I thought it would be a bunch of fun, just like in the movies I've seen. I didn't think it would end with me going to the hospital and other people getting hurt too," Clementine said.

After the incident, Clementine and the Smiths were taken to the hospital and Clementine and Melba were released shortly, but John suffered a more serious head injury.

"This boy could've killed us had the accident been worse," Melba Jingleheimer-Smith said. "I was lucky to have gotten out of the hospital with only a bloody nose. My husband is still in the hospital, and it's all because of this boy."

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