The Roanoker - November/December 2018 - 23

GEORGE DAVIS, COURTESY OF THE ROANOKE PUBLIC LIBRARY'S VIRGINIA ROOM

the streetcar's air brakes, just as he had done a block
earlier. They failed. McCarty then pulled hard on the
hand brakes, but it was too late. The streetcar slammed
into the left rear of the bus, shoving it into the crowd.
As pedestrians ran from the crushing sound of metal,
Jeanette Robertson had nowhere to go. She was crushed
beneath the bus. Martha Ann was among 18 others
lying injured on the pavement. Police ran to the scene
and did their best to manage a crowd that immediately
swarmed the scene, delaying the arrival of emergency
personnel. Jeanette was lifted into an ambulance but
died before it could reach Lewis-Gale Hospital, a short
distance away. At the hospital was a student nurse,
Betty, Jeanette's daughter. City coroner, Dr. Charles
Irvin, would later report that Jeanette had died from a
crushed chest and shock.
Martha Ann and 17 others were taken to LewisGale. The hospitalized were Mrs. Frank Muse, 41;
Lucille Roper and her two children, Sandra, 4, and
Harold, 2; Ramona Hill, 17; and Mrs. Luther Pendleton,
42. The others that were injured were released from the
hospital that day. All of the injured were standing on the
walk, and none were on the bus or streetcar.
The following day, five of the six hospitalized remained
at Lewis-Gale, and doctors reported that none had
broken bones or were critically injured. As for the family
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and friends of Jeanette Robertson, they gathered for her
four o'clock funeral at South Salem Christian Church.
Over the next several days, those in the hospital were
sent home. McCarty was charged with manslaughter
and reckless driving, and Roberts with reckless driving
as investigations were ongoing as to the cause of the
accident. Many were of the opinion that neither could
be faulted for what was a mechanical failure with the
streetcar. The Roanoke Times editorial board asserted
that while an investigation was necessary and to be
considered routine, both the management of the
street railway system and McCarty himself were
conscientious about safety and had clean safety records.
On December 20th, Judge Richard Pence of
Roanoke's police court dismissed charges against both
drivers based upon what he determined was "a tragic
mechanical failure for which no individual can be held
responsible."
The death of Mrs. Robertson was the last death or
injury caused directly or indirectly by a streetcar in
Roanoke. The Roanoke Railway and Electric Company
ended streetcar service in Roanoke in 1948 mainly due
to public transportation being provided by buses. In
the almost 60-year history of street railways operating
in the Roanoke Valley, 18 persons were killed due to
accidents involving streetcars. I

(FACING PAGE) TOP

Help Arrives
Rescue personnel
transfer a victim into
a waiting ambulance.
(FACING PAGE) BOTTOM

The Parade
One of the large
Christmas parade
balloons moves past
the reviewing stand.
ABOVE

The Tragedy Site
This corner at
Campbell Avenue
and First (Henry)
Street in front of
the State and City
Building was the site
of the 1946 parade
tragedy. Image is
from the 1920s.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018

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The Roanoker - November/December 2018

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