In the past, a convoy of antique cars whirring down the Interstate with their occupants waving to any and all who gave them the universal "thumbs up," was a quaint sight - a vestige of a long-gone period in our automotive history.
These days, however, as more people flood our highways in overpowered and overbuilt cars with power plants that would have left Henry Ford agape - an older car is merely an obstruction. Several have been hit in recent weeks, and their occupants killed.
A 62-year-old Bowie man and his 10-year-old daughter were killed Tuesday night in Howard County, Maryland when the antique car they were riding in was struck from behind and overturned on Interstate 70 near the Route 97 exit in Lisbon.
Witnesses told police that the man's Model A was travelling at about 50 mph when it was hit from behind and overturned. The car was in the slow lane and carried appropriate signage advising other motorists that it couldn't go as fast as they could.
It was the second fatal accident involving a vintage automobile in the area in less than a week. A week earlier, a 73-year-old Gambrills man was killed when his 1936 Ford was hit head-on on Defense Highway, police said.
It seems modern motorists may have higher expectations of older cars, expecting them to react as swiftly as their modern cousins. The disconnect is frightening. But it seems that modern society has somewhere to go and likes to get there at Warp speed.
Our condolences to the owners of these old treasures and to their families.
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