6 times US politicians or their families found themselves in serious car collisions
6 times US politicians or their families found themselves in serious car collisions
Senator John Fetterman and his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, were involved in a car crash on Sunday, June 9. Fetterman, who was driving the car, collided with a Chevrolet Impala near Hancock, Maryland, and the couple was taken to a hospital in West Virginia. However, later, the lawmaker was found "at fault" for driving above the speed limit of 70 mph while his Chevrolet Traverse rear-ended the other car, according to a Maryland State Police report. Neither Fetterman nor the other driver were tested for drugs. The Democrat is not the only politician to have met with a severe car collision. Here are six such tragic events where politicians or their families were involved in serious accidents.
1. Joe Biden loses first wife and daughter in tragic car accident
On December 13, 1972, President Joe Biden lost his first wife, Neilia Biden, and his 13-month-old daughter, Naomi Biden, in a fatal car crash days after he first won the election to the US Senate. His sons Beau Biden and Hunter Biden were also in the car when a tractor-trailer collided with Neilia's Chevrolet station wagon when they were out shopping for a Christmas tree at a rural intersection in Hockessin, Delaware. The sitting president came to know about the accident while he was interviewing staff in Washington, DC. He was sworn into the Senate from his son's hospital room in Wilmington.
2. Madison Cawthorn
Former Rep Madison Cawthorn was allegedly involved in a car collision that injured a state trooper from Florida. The crash reportedly took place on April 15, according to Newsweek. However, police did not name the former lawmaker as the driver, but their description matched his age and place of residence. Alethea Shapiro, an eyewitness to the incident, shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) that showed a wheelchair-using driver, whom she later identified as Cawthorn, at the accident scene where a 2021 Mercedes was rear-ended at the FHP Dodge Charger in a construction zone in Collier County, Florida. The politician was paralyzed from the waist down after a serious car crash when he was 18.
3. Jason Ravnsborg
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg met with a car crash while he was returning to Pierre after a Republican fundraising dinner at Spink County on the night of September 12, 2020. He was driving to the west of Highway 14, but after passing the town of Higmore, he struck and killed a pedestrian named Joe Boever. Boever was reportedly walking on the shoulder of the road carrying a flashlight. Ravnsborg, who was not injured, called 911 but could not locate the pedestrian's body. Following a five-month investigation, he was charged with three misdemeanors for using a mobile while driving, driving outside of the lane, and careless driving.
4. Jim Lucas
Indiana state Rep Jim Lucas was arrested on May 31, 2023, after he crashed his vehicle at State Road 11 and Interstate 65 north of Seymour. According to Indiana police, the conservative politician was driving despite being intoxicated. Lucas left the scene after the crash, and the Seymour Police Department found his vehicle at another location shortly later. The state lawmaker who was arrested by a trooper from the ISP-Versailles Post, pleaded guilty less than two weeks after the crash after he was sentenced to jail for driving while intoxicated and leaving the accident scene.
5. Nadine Arslanian Menendez, wife of Sen Bob Menendez
Sen Bob Menendez's wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, hit and killed a pedestrian in 2018, as per police reports. The fatal car crash was briefly mentioned in the federal indictment against the couple over bribery. As per a report from Bogota, New Jersey police department, the Sentaor's wife crashed her Mercedes-Benz sedan into 49-year-old Richard Koop in December 2018. However, the police did not charge Nadine, who was driving alone, after concluding she was not at fault for the accident. Koop was actually jaywalking, which caused the crash.
6. Jackie Walorski
On August 3, 2022, Rep Jackie Walorski from Indiana was killed in a car crash along with her two staffers, district director Zachery Potts and communications director Emma Thomson. The lawmaker was returning from an event in Claypool, Indiana, when her car collided with a Buick LeSabre near Nappanee, Indiana, on State Road 19. The driver of the other car also died. Initial reports claimed that another vehicle caused the accident, but the Elkhart County Sheriff's office later cited eyewitness and video evidence to confirm Walorski's car was behind the accident.
