1940 — Apr 21, Two Cars Collide Head-on (young people 17-23), Slayton, MN — 12
–13 National Safety Council. Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.[1]
–12 Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “12th Victim in Slayton Crash Dies in Hospital.” 6-13-1940.
–12 Moorhead Daily News, MN. “Ninth Victim of Auto Collision Dies.” 11-8-1940, p. 10.
–12 Star Tribune, MN. “62 years later, Slayton recalls one terrible night.” 4-21-2002.[2]
–11 Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “59 Pedestrians Walk to Deaths in Four Months.” 6-7-1940.
–11 Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “‘Youth at Wheel’ Tragedy…11 Dead.” 4-22-1940, p. 1.
–11 Grant, John D. “Chronology of the Year 1940.” Moorhead Daily News, MN. 12-31-1940, 6
–11 Moorhead Daily News, MN. “Car Wreck Kills 11 Minnesota Youths.” 4-22-1940, p. 1.
Narrative Information
April 22: “Slayton, Minn., April 22 (UP) – Eleven crushed bodies lay in a morgue today. Yesterday they were the sons and daughters of farmers and small merchants in this neighborhood. The youngest, 17, planned to go to college next year and play football like his big brother. But today they are dead and their parents are grieving — victims of what the Minnesota state highway department statement called “youth at the wheel.” The National Safety Council at Chicago said it was ‘the greatest toll of human lives ever taken in this country in a highway accident involving two pleasure cars.’ The council hoped it would be a challenge to ‘every parent in the country.’
“They died swiftly in the grinding head-on impact of two speeding automobiles early Sunday. Some of them were hurled 65 feet; others died horribly in the twisted steel of the two machines. Two may live.
“It had started out to be a gay evening for both parties. Four boys and two girls in one group went dancing; they were on their way home, laughing and joking as the driver pressed his foot on the accelerator until the speedometer read ‘80’ and the car careened on the curves of the oiled gravel road. The other group consisted of seven boys who had been driving around Slayton visiting friends. They too thought it fun when their car rocketed around curves and slewed on the gravel surface at break-neck speed. Near the city limits the two cars met on a curve. Police theorized that one of them must have skidded far over the safety line into the path of the on-rushing machine. Head-on they met with a crash that awakened persons living nearly a mile away. The fronts of both cars were ground to junk; gears flew out of their casing; tires exploded.
The effects upon the occupants were just as terrible.
“Safety officials sought to make this an example to impress upon youths the nation over the awful results of speed and irresponsibility on the highway. ‘It is a tragic and spectacular example, said Col. John Stilwell, president of the National Safety Council, ‘of what occurs in a lesser degree day in and day out throughout the country. The problem of instilling safe driving habits in young people is one of the most acute we face.’” (Moorhead Daily News, MN. “Car Wreck Kills 11 Minnesota Youths.” 4-22-1940, p. 1.)
April 22: The dead ranged in age from 17-23. (Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “‘Youth at Wheel’ Tragedy Held Challenge to Parents; 11 Dead.” 4-22-1940, p. 1.)
June 12: “Slayton, Minn. (UP) – The nation’s worst pleasure car accident took its twelfth life last night. Cecil Jensen, 17, died in a hospital of injuries he received in the head-on collision of two automobiles April 21. Eleven youths from Fulda, Jackson and Slayton, Minn., died almost instantly in the crash. Although Jensen’s condition had been critical since the accident, physicians had held hope for his recovery.” (Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “12th Victim in Slayton Crash Dies in Hospital.” 6-13-1940, p. 3)
Dec 31: “Disasters….April…21 – Eleven killed when two cars hit head-on in Minnesota.” (Grant, John D. “Chronology of the Year 1940.” Moorhead Daily News, MN. 12-31-1940, 6.)
Sources
Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “12th Victim in Slayton Crash Dies in Hospital.” 6-13-1940, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=35331327&sterm
Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “59 Pedestrians Walk to Deaths in Four Months.” 6-7-1940, p. 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=35331292&sterm
Moorhead Daily News, MN. “Ninth Victim of Auto Collision Dies.” 11-8-1940, p. 10. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=186642996&sterm=slayton+minn+auto
National Safety Council. “Greatest Number of Deaths in a Single Motor-Vehicle Accident.” Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.
Star Tribune (Richard Meryhew), Minneapolis, MN. “62 years later, Slayton recalls one terrible night. Town erects monument for deadliest two-car crash.” 4-21-2002. Accessed partial article 9-5-2016 at: https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-84991922.html
[1] We have been able to verify, up to the end of 1940, 12 deaths. There was a 13th person, who survived..
[2] Article is written upon the dedication of a memorial to the victims, noting 11 died at the time and the 12th later.