title: [Photograph 2012.201.B0052.1112]
creator: Green, Richard
date: 1953-05-20
language: No Language
description: Photograph taken for a newspaper owned by the Oklahoma Publishing
 Company. Caption: "Here's what happened Saturday when a motorcycle crashed
 into a car in the 800 block W Britton road Saturday. A gas tank exploded,
 burning one man severely and damaging three cars. The motorcycle and one of
 the cars are shown after they were pulled from the center of the street. A
 26-year-old city man was seriously hurt Saturday when his motorcycle crashed
 into the rear of a car and exploding gasoline tanks set fire to three
 automobiles. The victim was identified as Merl Dean Payton, 26, of 115 NW 97.
 He was admitted to Mercy hospital suffering from first and second degree burns
 about the head, chest, and back and multiple bruises and abrasions. Officer V.
 L. Connell said the mishap happened in the 800 block NW Britton road shortly
 after 3 p.m. He said Payton's  motorcycle swerved to avoid a collision with an
 unidentified motorist backing from a driveway and crashed into rear of a car
 driven by Mrs. Geraldine Weaver, 26, of 1821 Sheffield road. The gas tank of
 Mrs. Weavers' car exploded, Connell said, setting fire to two nearby cars
 owned by cafe operator and Claretta Blair, 19, of Edmond. Mrs. Weavers' car he
 said, was "practically destroyed." Payton was pinned under the wreckage for
 several minutes until he was freed by spectators, Connell reported. The
 officer said no charges have been filed but investigation of the mishap is
 continuing. He said Payton has a traffic record which "consists of a dozen
 arrests."
subject: Business, Economics and Finance - Journalism
subject: Accident
subject: Auto-Motorcycle
subject: County
subject: 1953
subject: newspaper photographs
subject: ACCIDENT / AUTO-MOTORCYCLE / COUNTY / 1953
coverage: United States - Oklahoma - Oklahoma County - Oklahoma City
coverage: 1953-05-20
coverage: Into Modern Times, 1939-Present
type: Photograph
format: 1 photograph
format: Image
identifier: local-cont-no: 2012.201.B0052.1112
identifier: https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc220027/
identifier: ark: ark:/67531/metadc220027