Posted on 04/15/2005 12:15:31 PM PDT by soundandvision
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- An 81-year-old woman preparing to take a test drive at a car dealership hit her husband, a salesman, a car and a tree before running into a wall. "She must have panicked," said Joe Sica, sales manager at Honda of Fort Myers.
The new Honda Accord shot backward after Dorothy Byrum got behind the wheel....the car was written off.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
LOL
Woman, 81, strikes two, totals car in test drivePublished by news-press.com on April 15, 2005
When Dorothy Stump got behind the wheel to give a new Honda a test drive, she stepped on the pedal — the wrong pedal.
It jerked backward.
Before it stopped, the 81-year-old woman had knocked down her husband, struck a salesman, smashed into a parked car, and clipped a tree before finally crashing into a wall Wednesday."She must of panicked," said Joe Sica, sales manager at Honda of Fort Myers on South Tamiami Trail.
Dorothy's husband, Robert Byrum, 88, of Fort Myers was hit by the car's open door, according to a Lee County sheriff's report.Then, the door hit salesman Christopher Hopper, 23, who was standing about 20 feet behind the vehicle.
It kept going — hitting a parked Honda Civic, a tree and then a wall.
"Fortunately, the air bag went off," Sica said, adding the driver was not injured.Byrum and Hopper were taken to Gulf Coast Hospital where Byrum was admitted and was in good condition Thursday afternoon.
Hopper, who was hired about two months ago, was treated and released Wednesday but will be out of work for about a week, Sica said.As for the Accord, it's totaled. "You never anticipate something like this happening," Sica said.
The couple will have to return to the dealership. Their trade-in, a Chevrolet, is still there.
Woe to the Poltroon who diegns take away the freedom of a Q-Tip. You try that in MA and those old ladies will write a letter to John F. Kennedy.
If they let her back on the road down their in FLA they get what they deserve.. :)
Two words: Pedal Mis-application.
For some reason when a female accidentally steps on the gas instead of the brake and the car starts moving they press HARDER. This is consistant with Double X syndrome which influences female interactions with machinery and electronics. You would think the natural reaction would be to remove the foot from the pedal when you get a response you don't expect (consistant with XY syndrome).
The new Honda Accord
It's obviously Bush's fault...but because this was in Florida, the question is: W.'s or Jeb's?
Yeah ~ it has to have diesel engine and not that Chevy pickup based H2 knockoff.
I refuse to believe this. Insurance companies don't give up so easily. I bought my ex-wife a Honda, which she drove off a cliff about 24 hours after I bought it, with me in the passenger's seat. Fortunately, we hit a tree about 50 feet down, which left me with more than a minor bruise on my ribs.
It was such a mess, that I didn't even think about repairs, but several weeks later they returned the car in perfect shape. I have serious doubts that this lady did more damage on level ground.
Yeah, a humvee just doesn't sound right without that brain jarring rattle and the diesel smell.
If they can replicate that, I'd be happy.
(And if they can replicate the 'drive over everything' feeling...)
. . . but does anyone else think that is the most bassackward phrasing possible?Nope, the AP could've said she "apparently manipulated the wrong control."
Rogert that Darksheare!
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