Without a license
It’s weird to think that the town where I got my first driver’s license is now the nation’s top implementer of roundabouts.
There’s one of those roundabouts under construction about a dozen miles north of us, causing all sorts of delays. Traffic jams all summer long (one driver fell asleep at the wheel waiting to be flagged through).
Back when I was ready for my license, we lived in Carmel, Indiana. No roundabouts then; plenty now. Back in 1974, it was parallel parking that gave us all headaches – and caused me to fail my first driving test.
One of Grandma Vayo‘s cousins had a driver’s license problem, too. It was back in 1933, three years after she graduated from Edward Little High School in Auburn, Maine.
Here are Em’s yearbook blurb and graduation photo:
Three years after graduation, a terrible car accident put Emily’s name in headlines.
It seems Emily was driving without a license. Or was she? Unfortunately, the newspaper reports asked the question but never came back with the answer.
Emily was 21 and driving another person’s car; that person was in the front seat with her. He told police he was teaching her to drive.
This next part is very sad. She struck and killed an elderly man as he was leaving church.
After reading a dozen or so articles from that week, I can say Emily was charged $25 and court costs for driving without a license. The thing is, police checked the records and said she’d received her license the previous year.
The case went to the grand jury, but there were no further news articles, so it feels safe to say she was not charged. Apparently, it was a matter of Arsene Lavoie stepping into traffic and then stepping back when he saw the approaching vehicle. Emily told police she thought he had moved back off the road, and so she continued. Such a tragedy!
Over the years, Emily worked in a shoe factory, a grocery store, and as a nurse’s aide. She married Forrest Crockett, had three children, and was involved in community projects. She passed away in 1963.
Back to the present day …
Gary just told me he saw a driver turn left into the new roundabout.
No harm done, thankfully, other than a pounding heart on Gary’s part (and no doubt, the other driver’s). I guess that’s what you call a learning curve.
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