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Teen Commits Suicide Immediately After Car Accident Believing He Killed Someone — But They Were Actually Fine
A troubled youngster in the 1930s took a sad and drastic step after he grossly misunderstood what had happened after he struck a car with his own vehicle
When something shocking happens, humans are unfortunately conditioned to struggle being able to take a beat and think of anything outside of that moment in time. If we did have a better ability to reset ourselves and reflect, a lot of pain and trauma could be avoided. Consider the case of a teenager during the Great Depression, who got into a car accident and immediately killed himself by the side of the road — thinking he had killed a passenger in the other vehicle. However, as it turned out, besides some minor injuries they were actually fine.
In May, 1931, a tragedy played out on the roads of Oklahoma City. 17-year-old Ivan Van Tine accidentally drove his roadster into the trailer of a car belongings to Mr. and Mrs. J.W. House of Detroit and their two sons.
The accident occurred in the evening, and the Houses were parked along the shoulder of the road trying to make a repair on a faulty gas line. When Van Tine sped around the corner, he wasn’t expecting anyone to be parked there and smashed into them from behind.
After rear ending the Houses, Van Tine got out to see if he could help those inside the damaged car. He found that Mrs. House had been thrown from the car and was unconscious with four teeth knocked out. The two boys had some scratches but were otherwise fine, as was their father.
Believing that he had killed the woman, Van Tine went back to his own car, pulled out a pistol and shot himself by the side of the road, dying as a result.
A subsequent investigation revealed that the boy was likely in a heightened state of mind before the accident had even happened. His father explained that his son had recently run away from home in Missouri, and that the car he was driving was rented and didn’t even belong to the family. Likely believing that a world he already felt had been shattered by his circumstances, misunderstanding the severity of the accident sent…
