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Woman killed while trying to get through gate in Creston

May 26, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

A woman trying to get through a driveway gate in Creston was crushed and killed by her own vehicle on Sunday afternoon.

Shortly after 5 p.m., 64-year-old Valerie White was attempting to enter a gate when she stepped out of her 2001 Dodge Ram pickup truck to assess the keypad. She left the truck in neutral and did not put on the emergency break.

The truck then rolled back over White, trapping her beneath the vehicle and causing fatal injuries.

 


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It is especially tragic in this horrific case for she had been warned multiple times since the vehicle was purchased new in 2001, that prior to exiting the truck to turn off the motor, place it into gear, apply the parking brake and double-check peddle brake with a second push on the pedal just to be sure it has engaged properly.


It was a tricky emergency/parking brake system that required a floor pedal be pushed into a locking position through resistance to a locking position and was questionable from the very first day I brought it home from the dealer. It always worried me to no end in design and function, while even more so since she treated its manual transmission as though it was an automatic even though being warned time and time again the dangers of leaving a parked vehicle in neutral, even on level ground?


Somewhat sadly, I divorced her many years ago and am surprised that truck was still running after all this time, especially since she did not believe in proper vehicle maintenance too. The rough dirt and gravel roads in the Creston area take a heavy toll on vehicles, which is exacerbated by those with a “lead foot” and she had one of those, even on washboard roads, and breaking more than one shock absorber along with a suspension spring in the process.


I so wish people would realize the mass and force behind these rubber wheel steel and plastic boxes we use instead of horses, for they are as dangerous as the number of horses in their horsepower rating, coming at you in a unstoppable stampede. They are not Toy, and NOT to be taken lightly at any time, for they can severely injure or kill you easily, while even more importantly – an innocent someone else(s) neighbors too.


I am relieved that this “runaway” truck did not continue on from the driveway gate entrance and roll out onto Cripple Creek Road to endanger other innocent members of the community using this crucial travel corridor from Paso Robles to Creston, and my former property on Kingsbury Road too.


I so wish she had listened to my safety advice for it would (not might) have saved her life.


I hope and pray she both finds and rests in peace. Amen.


~ Toby Stanley


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Someone might want to spell/grammar check these articles…


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I don’t think people realize how often such accidents occur. Your car is a danger at any time you do not exercise proper caution. Just last year a friend was coming by after dark to pick something up at my home. Luckily, I was exiting the front door just in time to catch his car rolling backwards with the door open and his body disappearing under the car. He was pinned on the drivers’ side (opposite me) with the door across his chest, totally obstructing his breath. It was terrifying, as in the dark, it was impossible to tell if other parts of him were pinned as well. Luckily, they were not. I dashed across to him and figured out how to reverse the car to get it off of him, in time for him to draw a sharp inhalation of breath on his own.


Fortunately, he does not remember any of the worst of it. But he did suffer some injury, although it could have been much, much worse. Had I not been coming out to meet him, I would not have known he was pinned, nor would anyone have been able to see him, with the car at a slight angle to the opposite curb. With obstructed breath, seconds count.


Poorly leveraged cars, such as improperly applied or insufficient jacks, also claim people every year. This unfortunate woman was obviously alone, with no one to witness her plight. The gear and the break people. Even then, be on guard. Several tons of steel are not to be taken lightly or carelessly, ever. And stay the hell away from a rolling vehicle. Please.


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Wow. Pretty sure that there are whole bunch of people who just feel big when they vote me down any time I post. The fact that I could tell a story of saving someone’ life and warn people to be careful and end up with two down votes! This is not the kind of thing one needs to take personally. I mean, it says a lot more about the voters than about me. Sad, really.


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