Posted on 10/16/2020 5:22:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
One family had just got up and moved to a warmer table when the car came crashing through
Customers escaped death by inches after a car ploughed through the front of a busy cafe while they were eating breakfast.
Ricky Garrett, 67, and his family had just moved to a warmer table when the red Kia Picanto smashed through the front window of the shop and into the seats where they'd just been sitting. Multiple tables was smashed, and son Aaron, 34, fractured his thumb while pulling his mum Susan, 66, out of the path of the out of control car on Thursday.
Diners were pushed up against the walls by the force of the crash - but miraculously all seven customers and two staff members escaped without major injury.
A shocking video shows the battered car pressed up against the counter - still with cakes on top - and cups of coffee on nearby tables at the cafe in Newbridge, Caerphilly.
Ricky, a singer, said it was a miracle nobody was killed in the crash which missed a mother with a pram by inches and an elderly man by seconds.
Grandfather Ricky, from Six Bells, said: "It was horrendous to be honest. If we hadn't have moved table we would have been dead. My son, where he was sat, the car came through and destroyed all the tables.
"He had just paid for his meals and my wife went to order ours and she was standing in front of the counter. All of a sudden, the car came through and destroyed everything.
"My son screamed. He grabbed my wife and pulled her out of the way. If he hadn't she would have been dead or cut in half. I got pushed up against the wall. It was pandemonium. It felt like it happened in slow motion."
The crash happened when retired Susan and Ricky met Aaron, also a singer, and his partner Kayleigh Smith, 33, after the couple dropped off their son, 12, at school.
They were meeting for a late breakfast at Victoria's Cafe and one half of the group had ordered at the counter, and the other half were in the process, at around 11.50am.
The family, who were joined by another friend, were sat on the table in the path of the car, but had moved moments earlier to be closer to seats near a radiator.
The vehicle smashed through the front window and Ricky injured his ribs when he was pushed up against the wall by the moving tables. Aaron fractured his thumb, and is in a cast, while pulling his mum Susan from the path of the car, and she hurt her shoulder. He said another woman was injured, and taken to hospital on a stretcher.
Ricky added: "To be honest with you, moments earlier an older gentleman was sat right in the window and left when he finished his breakfast. He wouldn't be here now otherwise. If he hadn't have left, he would have been under that car.
"They have tables outside. Luckily people were sat in a place the car missed them. I think there was a lady with a pushchair or pram. Everybody had a lucky escape. Someone was watching over everybody."
Gwent Police were called to the scene and firefighters pulled the car from the shop.
Ricky said they heard the accident happened when an elderly driver, using an automatic vehicle, put his foot on the wrong pedal.
A police spokesperson said: "We received a call at 11.53am reporting a one vehicle collision on Victoria Terrace in Newbridge. The vehicle, a Kia Picanto, collided with a cafe.
"Four people have sustained minor injuries and are being checked over by paramedics at the scene. The vehicle is in the process of being recovered and further enquiries are being undertaken."
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called to reports of an incident involving a vehicle on Victoria Terrace, Newbridge. We responded with three emergency ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and were also supported by Wales Air Ambulance. One patient was transported to Royal Gwent Hospital.”
Ricky, a singer, said it was a miracle nobody was killed in the crash which missed a mother with a pram by inches and an elderly man by seconds.
Grandfather Ricky, from Six Bells, said: "It was horrendous to be honest. If we hadn't have moved table we would have been dead. My son, where he was sat, the car came through and destroyed all the tables.
"He had just paid for his meals and my wife went to order ours and she was standing in front of the counter. All of a sudden, the car came through and destroyed everything.
"My son screamed. He grabbed my wife and pulled her out of the way. If he hadn't she would have been dead or cut in half. I got pushed up against the wall. It was pandemonium. It felt like it happened in slow motion."
The crash happened when retired Susan and Ricky met Aaron, also a singer, and his partner Kayleigh Smith, 33, after the couple dropped off their son, 12, at school.
They were meeting for a late breakfast at Victoria's Cafe and one half of the group had ordered at the counter, and the other half were in the process, at around 11.50am.
The family, who were joined by another friend, were sat on the table in the path of the car, but had moved moments earlier to be closer to seats near a radiator.
The vehicle smashed through the front window and Ricky injured his ribs when he was pushed up against the wall by the moving tables. Aaron fractured his thumb, and is in a cast, while pulling his mum Susan from the path of the car, and she hurt her shoulder. He said another woman was injured, and taken to hospital on a stretcher.
Lord have mercy!
I think the takeaway is that Ricky is a singer, the car is battered (a pun?) and the cakes are all right.
“Waitress! I want my picanto sauce now!”
“busy cafe”
Then...
“seven customers”
Wales is a small country. Maybe they define “busy” differently.
There were only seven customers, but they were all doing four things at once.
Drive through pick up
Had this happen to me once years ago at a laundromat.
Guy drove through the glass and hit the machines. Got out and said I must of hit the gas by mistake. Yea, no $hit, Sherlock!
I took it as a sign from God to move out of the hellhole apts I was living in to someplace that had washers and dryers in the rooms.
Since there are no details about the car’s driver provided in the article, are we to presume there was no person operating the vehicle when the accident occurred?
Who is responsible for the delinquent car’s destructive behavior?
Whole new areas of liability law are going to be opened up when AI begins to have authority to operate machinery independently. Bright days ahead...for lawyers!
“Since there are no details about the car’s driver provided in the article, are we to presume there was no person operating the vehicle when the accident occurred?”
More likely they’re trying to avoid ‘religious stereotyping’.
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