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Eleanor Roosevelt didn't allow much to stop her. The trailblazing first lady, diplomat, and activist had a zest for life. "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" tried comically crediting the former first lady with saying "America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed." While Eleanor likely never said such a silly thing, she was no stranger to driving herself –- despite the vehement disapproval of the U.S. Secret Service.
The agency repeatedly tried to convince Roosevelt that road tripping through New England without a driver, security detail, or police escort was a seriously bad idea. In the end, the first lady and her freude am fahren would not relent, prompting the Secret Service to issue her a gun for her protection. Fair enough.
Roosevelt's desire to drive wasn't always a joyful event. In one instance, she was a bit too tired while behind the wheel, and the fatigued former first lady drifted off to sleep and subsequently across the white center line on a road 20 miles north of New York. Unfortunately, the snooze resulted in a three-car accident, a trip to the dentist for Eleanor, and a revoked driver's license.
Eleanor Roosevelt once lost her license because she 'dozed off' and caused a three-car collision
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Eleanor Roosevelt liked a convertible, not unlike her husband's contribution to the list of 10 iconic cars US presidents drove. She had a convertible Buick in the 1940s. That is, until her chauffeur crashed the drop top on a joy ride and perished along with three other people. Wild stuff. Sensing a pattern of automotive bad luck? In the case of Roosevelt's unfortunate drowsy drive, she was at the wheel of her 1946 Lincoln, a sedan.
On August 14th, 1946, Roosevelt was out for a drive on the Sawmill Parkway just north of New York. She reportedly "dozed off" behind the wheel, losing control. Her sedan crossed the center line and into another car before striking a third vehicle. Eleanor escaped with a handful of bruises and a trip to the dentist's office to treat her cracked front teeth. Ouch. Three other people ended up at the hospital, though records don't describe their injuries as serious.
Falling asleep at the wheel is extremely dangerous, but it's not unheard of, really. There are perfectly natural reasons why people get so sleepy while riding in cars. But it's up to every driver to stop and get rest before drowsiness becomes deadly. As for Mrs. Roosevelt, the former first lady reportedly refused to seek special treatment. New York revoked her driver's license, which then-Deputy Motor Vehicle Commissioner Howard Miles claimed was a "routine" course of action in a case like this one. The punishment wasn't a long-lived one, and Roosevelt was eligible to reapply for a driver's license 30 days after the revocation. Could be worse. You could get your license suspended for a DUI in a state you've never been to.
Eleanor wrote about the wreck in her national syndicated newspaper column
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Interestingly enough, Eleanor Roosevelt had the means (and the idea) to comment on the ordeal herself with a national audience. In "My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt," a syndicated newspaper column, she wrote about the incident while expressing remorse. "I am sorry to have to write a different type of column from what I have been writing but, unfortunately, while driving down from Hyde Park yesterday, I must have become drowsier than I realized and, before I knew it, I had come head on with another car in a collision and then sideswiped a second one," she wrote. "I was terrified to think that someone else might have been hurt."
By her own words, the former first lady got a ride from a complete stranger after a tow truck carted away her wounded Lincoln sedan. "A very kind gentleman, Mr. Harold Godfrey, who was on his way to Newburgh, turned around and took me the rest of the way into New York. I shall always think of him as the Good Samaritan," she added in the column. There was no stopping Eleanor, not even stopping to wait for a cab. You could imagine the U.S. Secret Service would have had a collective coronary if she had done that during her time as the first lady.