December 1, 1981

White River Township man killed in head-on collision

       A White River Township man became the Johnson County’s eighth traffic accident victim in the past week when he died Monday in a two- car collision just north of Center grove high school. Thomas W. Seal, 48, 4009 South Drive, Cedar Hills, died instantly Monday night when the car he was driving hit another car head-on, according to Deputy Tom Pritchard of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department. Pritchard said Seal was driving north on County Road 500 West just after 9:00 p.m. Monday when his car swerved across the center line about 500 feet south of Olive Branch Road and into the path of a car driven by Sherry Dale, 19, 381 N. Peterman Road, Greenwood. He said Ms. Dale apparently was looking for a friend’s house, and glanced over her shoulder. When she looked back onto the road, Seal’s car was in front of her, and she could not avoid the collision, police say. The two cars hit head-one, and Seal’s car pushed Ms. Dale’s vehicle back about 150 feet before it went off the road. He said the wreck occurred on a straight, flat section of roadway. He said the road was slick from Monday night’s rain, but he added, “I don’t think the weather had anything to do with it.”  Seal died instantly, according to authorities. Ms. Dale suffered head and arm injuries in the accident, Pritchard said, and was taken by Meyers ambulance service to the St. Francis Hospital Center in Beech Grove where she was later listed in fair condition this morning. Funeral arrangements for Seal are pending at the Dorsey Doty Mortuary in Indianapolis. Tudor said tests showed Seal apparently been drinking early Monday evening. Blood alcohol tests revealed he was legally intoxicated, the coroner said. The accident was the fourth fatal collision on roads in Johnson County since Thanksgiving Day. Eight people have died on County Roads in the past week, and the 1981 traffic toll in Johnson County now stands at 14.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

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