Tom Phillips [Dana Andrews] is a traveling salesman who treks home to Boston for Christmas, only to be derailed by a rain-soaked encounter with a drunken driver. The crash leaves him with spinal damage, ending his life on the road as he knows it and forcing him to rethink his future.
His brother arranges for Tom to buy a remote motel in the desert town of Mayville, California, hoping a new setting might help him start over. Tom is reluctant—he has never run an inn before—but he decides that a fresh start, far from the accident, is his best option.
Tom travels to California with his wife, Tina Phillips [Laurie Mock], and their son, seeking a new life. Upon arrival, the family faces taunting and trouble from a pair of drag racers and a party girl in a modified, high-performance 1958 Chevrolet Corvette who mockingly force them to swerve to avoid a collision.
A series of escalating confrontations with the local youth follows. These teenagers, the offspring of relatively well-to-do farmers, are bored and constantly seeking thrills, while the adults in town—tired of the disruption—grow weary of the chaos. One of the adults, Dailey [George Ives], owns the motel Tom has purchased and has long-let the youths use it as a clandestine hangout.
When Tom tells the filling-station owner that he has bought the motel, Ernie [Gene Kirkwood] overhears and relays the information to his friend Duke [Paul Bertoya], the driver of the Corvette. Duke launches a campaign of harassment that drives the family all the way to the motel.
Tom’s daughter Tina Phillips [Laurie Mock], drawn to Duke, visits him in the motel bar and grill, known as the Arena. Duke’s girlfriend Gloria [Mimsy Farmer], in a fit of jealousy, informs Tom, who then tries to strangle Duke, only for his back to give out and force him to stop. He also informs Dailey that he will not go through with the sale, sparking a confrontation between the former motel owner and the youths, which ends when Dailey tells Duke and Ernie that Tom plans to move on to the next town and “bring the police down on this place.”
Duke and Ernie vow to stop Tom, and the family attempts to escape, triggering a deadly game of "chicken." Tom outwits them by parking his car on a narrow bridge, headlights blazing, and evacuating his family to a safe spot about 20 yards off the road. With a stationary target ahead, Duke veers off the edge of the bridge, emerging bruised and battered. The would-be troublemakers pledge to stay away, and Tom agrees not to press charges but to run the motel properly from now on.
