7/10/2010:
We may complain about speed limits today, but sixty years ago, the limits were even lower. Yet, speed is relative when you're riding on the roof of a car, as five-year-old Yvonne Gregoire discovered in 1942.
Yvonne's father brought her and her younger sister out to a field about two and a half miles away from their home, to relieve hired hand George Lane. In the meantime, Yvonne slipped out the window, unseen, and climbed up onto the roof.
George drove back to the house at approximately 40 miles an hour, and Yvonne had the ride of her life, bouncing from side to side, waving to those who lived near the road.
You can bet that on this date, Yvonne's father was thankful that the speed limit wasn't higher.
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
S.B. 223, Chapter 158, 1931 Laws of North Dakota
N.D. Revised Code of 1943 Vol. 4
Grand Forks Herald, Friday, July 10, 1942, p.1