Passer-by Saves Rep. Conte From Fire in Car Crash

Rep. Silvio O. Conte (R-Mass.) escaped unharmed when he was pulled from his burning car by a passer-by after an accident on his way to the U.S. Capitol.

“God, the Lord is good to me,” Conte told reporters. “My door was jammed. . . . I couldn’t get out. This really beautiful human being put one foot up against the car and yanked that door open--I was a little dazed--and he put me in his car.”

Conte said the accident occurred about 8:30 a.m. Thursday as he was driving his aged red convertible south on Rock Creek Parkway from his home in Bethesda, Md. The driver in front of him slammed on his brakes.

Road Was Wet

“I slammed on mine,” he said, but the road was wet and, as the car swerved toward another traffic lane, “I turned the wheel as much as I could to the left” and slammed into a cement wall.

“The left fender was all pushed in, the windshield was all smashed,” Conte said, and the engine caught fire.

An aide to Conte said the 65-year-old congressman’s rescuer asked that his name not be released. Paramedics took Conte to the hospital and he was released after tests.

The congressman said he hopes to repair his beloved car. The 1970 fire-engine red Pontiac GTO, nicknamed “The Judge,” has become a landmark around the Capitol. It has about 150,000 miles on it, Conte said.