BY JANICE MORSE and SUE KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[wreckage]](/editions/1998/10/24/crash_200x124.jpg)
Butler County Sheriff's Capt. G. Michael Grimes examines a station wagon in ehich four students were hurt.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Friday was a day of pain -- and hope -- for those who care about the six victims of Thursday's devastating Wayne Township crash.
Janet and Robert Selby shuttled among the three hospitals where their three daughters and a family friend are fighting life-threatening injuries.
Relatives of James and Louetta Johnston picked up their newspapers Friday and were stunned to read that the couple, married nearly 44 years, had been hit head-on, but were in fair condition at Fort Hamilton Hospital.
And at Edgewood High, students' first-period teachers broke the difficult news about the crash that hurt four schoolmates, Markita Bales and the Selby sisters -- Sabrina, Fontaine and Savannah.
"It was sad," said sophomore Wendy Allen, who lives next door to the Selbys on Wayne Milford Road, on the border of Wayne and Milford townships. "A lot of people cried and had to leave the classroom."
The accident occurred on a crisp, clear autumn morning, just as dawn was breaking.
"This car just whipped out in front of me. It happened so fast, you couldn't even blink," Mr. Johnston, 63, said Friday from the hospital.
Around 7:20 a.m. Thursday, the Johnstons were driving their gray van toward the Oxford Wal-Mart store for their weekly 8 a.m. bingo game when the carload of girls, headed for their school, suddenly crossed into their path on a gentle curve on U.S. 127 in northern Butler County.
Witnesses told police they saw the car's driver, Fontaine, look away from the road just for a moment while traveling at about 50 mph.
"For every second that she is turned away, that car is going to travel 73 1/2 feet -- and a lot can happen in that amount of space," said Butler County Sheriff's Capt. G. Michael Grimes. "People just don't realize that."
Driver distractions -- talking on cell phones, scolding kids, applying makeup or eating -- contribute to a majority of the crashes the sheriff's office investigates, he said.
As of Friday afternoon, investigators didn't know specifically what distracted Fontaine.
Whatever the cause, the results were traumatic.
The Johnstons' injuries may have been lessened because they were both wearing seat belts, Capt. Grimes said.
Among the girls, only Fontaine was wearing a seat belt. "If she had not had the belt on, she probably would be dead right now," he said. "If someone's not belted in, they're like a ping-pong ball bouncing around in that car."
Fontaine, 16, and Markita, 14, remained at University Hospital in critical condition Friday. Sabrina, 17, was in critical condition at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. Savannah, 14, was in serious condition at Children's Hospital Medical Center, where she was being treated for a ruptured spleen and facial burns. Her face apparently was burned with acid spewed when the car's battery exploded, Capt. Grimes said.
The girls' injuries taught their classmates painful lessons about the fragility of life.
"It makes me nervous, because now I'm driving and the people who are getting in crashes are my friends," said senior Becky Huff, who fastened her seat belt as she drove away from the school. "I used to see them every day and now they're in the hospital. Now I know why my mom and dad worry."
Schoolmates pinned red paper hearts to their shirts, some marked with the girls' initials. Students scribbled "get well" wishes on large posters and collected stacks of greeting cards to give to the girls.
Assistant Principal Bob Burchheim said it was uplifting to see the students' outpouring of support. Despite optimism about the girls' conditions, there was an undercurrent of worry and anguish in the hallways.
Carrie Specht, who plays in the school band with Markita and Savannah, learned about the crash at band practice after school Thursday.
"Our band teacher told us and gave us an opportunity to take it in. He said if any of us believed in God and wanted to pray, we could," she said. "Me and my friends went into a circle and prayed. It helped me a little, but I was in total shock. As soon as I got home, I started bawling in my room."
During her vocational agriculture class Friday, Carrie said she kept looking into the empty seat where Fontaine normally sat. "I looked over and it hit me: She wasn't here. She was in the hospital."
Courtney Pelz contributed to this report.
Lack of experience plagues young drivers
![[wreckage]](/editions/1998/10/24/crash_600x372.jpg)