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From behind the wheel, David Mitchell zeroes in on every overpass he approaches. In darkness, the Kentucky man flicks on his brights, then abruptly switches lanes to become a tougher target.
Mitchell, like scores of other people across the country, knows first-hand that danger sometimes lurks atop those overpasses. Boulders, concrete blocks, metal pipes, bowling balls, even a toilet, have been known to fall atop unsuspecting drivers.
"It's sheer highway terrorism," said Mitchell, whose fiancee was disa-bled by a rock thrown through the windshield on Interstate 65 in Ala-bama. "It's like hunters going out and spotlighting deer - you've got no defense."
The horrific death of a 32-year-old Alabama woman on Interstate 75 in Manatee County this week is not an isolated tragedy. In fact, between 1987 and 1997, an average of 18 people a year have been killed on America's roadways by thrown or fallen objects, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The picture emerging in the death of Julie Catherine Laible, a University of Alabama assistant professor killed by a rock thrown from an I-75 overpass, mirrors cases nationwide: Young men looking for a thrill and giving little thought to whom they might hurt.
''I heard about that poor woman on I-75," said Mitchell, of Kentucky. "It sent a shiver down my spine."
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