Elderly Driver Loses Control In Belle Vernon
BELLE VERNON (KDKA) -- Police say the ride an 89-year-old woman went on was a wild one, but they also say it was clearly an accident and they have no plans to file charges.
The woman was leaving to go to church Sunday morning when she told police her gas pedal got stuck to the floor.
Her 90-year-old neighbor heard what happened next.
"I came up out of the cellar and I heard that terrible crash and I just run out here – there she was going the other way by then and hit right into the building," Roy Hixenbaugh said.
The woman's car was parked in a space near her Johnson Street home in Belle Vernon.
When her gas pedal got stuck, she went about 30-yards in reverse, crossing the street, going through her neighbor's yard, over a concrete barrier and plowing into his car.
The woman told police she panicked and put the car in drive, causing her to cross the street again and crash her Pontiac Grand Am into the end unit of her apartment building.
She hit with so much force, the interior walls cracked too.
"I just stood and watched her for a minute to see what the heck was going on and here I seen her get out of the car and walked around and went to her house."
Southwest Regional Police Chief John Hartman said it was a miracle.
"I don't know how she ended up unscathed," he said.
The tires on the woman's car were blown out. The vehicle had to be towed from the scene.
Hixenbaugh says his elderly neighbor was worried that he was going to be mad at her for damaging his car, but he says he simply smiled and assured her that would never happen.
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