Crashed Car A Chilly Holiday Reminder

By Larissa Lytwyn

Framed against the neatly manicured “Welcome to Newtown High School” sign sits a wreck.

Swerving to avoid a tractor-trailer last month on Route 34, 16-year-old Adam Drummond, Jr, a junior, spun out of control, flipping three times through a tangle of trees before landing far off road in a twisted metal heap.

Amazingly, Adam, who was wearing his seatbelt, was able to exit the car immediately — with little more than a scratch.

“I was brought to the hospital to make sure there were no internal injuries, but I was fine,” Adam said, “just very, very lucky!”

His father, Adam Drummond, Sr, contacted Newtown High School Principal William Manfredonia with a proposition to display the car outside the school as a holiday reminder to drive safely.

“He thought it would be a good way to make something positive out of the accident,” Mr Manfredonia said.

Adam, who turns 17 in a few weeks, hopes to acquire a new car, “maybe a Jeep or 4x4,” before the end of the year.

“I just got my license a month ago,” he said, “and this experience definitely shook my confidence a little bit.”

Driving a slightly sturdier vehicle, he hopes, will prove especially useful in winter weather and beyond.

“I’m a little less cocky when I drive now,” Adam said. “[Looking at the wrecked car] really reminds you how easy it is to get hurt.”

Mr Manfredonia said the car would be displayed until the end of the year.