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Fla. Woman, 81, Crashes Car at Dealership
AP National News ^ | April 15, 2005, 11:46 AM EDT | Associated Press

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 ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: elderly
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To: Larry Lucido

LOL


81 posted on 04/15/2005 2:01:04 PM PDT by soundandvision
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To: soundandvision
Those Hondas have an Accord of their own it seems.... And the test drive was only a few feet....

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.


82 posted on 04/15/2005 2:17:51 PM PDT by deport (You know you are getting older when everything either dries up or leaks.)
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To: hispanichoosier

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.


83 posted on 04/15/2005 2:18:43 PM PDT by massgopguy (massgopguy)
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To: deport
The couple will have to return to the dealership. Their trade-in, a Chevrolet, is still there.

If they let her back on the road down their in FLA they get what they deserve.. :)

84 posted on 04/15/2005 2:20:19 PM PDT by soundandvision
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To: deport

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).


85 posted on 04/15/2005 2:38:43 PM PDT by BadAndy (Specializing in unnecessarily harsh comments.)
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To: AQGeiger
Of it's own accord..........good one!!

The new Honda Accord

86 posted on 04/15/2005 2:43:17 PM PDT by MadelineZapeezda (If you right click on Madeline Albright's image, my name should show up!)
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To: soundandvision

It's obviously Bush's fault...but because this was in Florida, the question is: W.'s or Jeb's?


87 posted on 04/15/2005 3:17:15 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Darksheare

Yeah ~ it has to have diesel engine and not that Chevy pickup based H2 knockoff.


88 posted on 04/15/2005 3:35:33 PM PDT by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: soundandvision
The new Honda Accord shot backward after Dorothy Byrum got behind the wheel....the car was written off.

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.

89 posted on 04/15/2005 3:49:41 PM PDT by rkhampton
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To: blackie

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...)


90 posted on 04/15/2005 3:57:25 PM PDT by Darksheare (Restrain the duck, he'll tell us all he knows once he's plucked. -Chief Interrogator Bluejay)
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To: Phantom Lord
Missed one...

91 posted on 04/15/2005 4:03:42 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: LibWhacker
...apparently stepped on the wrong pedal...
. . . but does anyone else think that is the most bassackward phrasing possible?
Nope, the AP could've said she "apparently manipulated the wrong control."
92 posted on 04/15/2005 5:13:49 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Darksheare

Rogert that Darksheare!


93 posted on 04/16/2005 11:27:04 AM PDT by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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