2008.10.28
Foot on wrong pedal causes Blacksburg crash
A Blacksburg High School student crashed her car Monday afternoon when she mistakenly put her foot on the gas instead of the brake, police said.
The teenage girl wasn't hurt in the crash, which happened about 2 p.m. in the school's parking lot, Blacksburg police Sgt. Nathan O'Dell said.
The girl, who wasn't named by police, was driving her Dodge Stratus out of the parking lot. As she approached the intersection, she reached into the back seat for her backpack, O'Dell said.
The girl accidentally stepped on the accelerator, O'Dell said. Her car sped across Patrick Henry Drive and off the roadway, where it struck a large pine tree. With the pine tree still on top, the car continued into someone's yard. The car came to a stop about 20 feet from a house, O'Dell said.
The Blacksburg Fire Department had to use a chainsaw to remove the tree from the top of the car so the car could be removed from the yard, he said.
The crash caused about $4,500 in damage to the car and $500 in damage to the tree, O'Dell said. The driver wasn't charged.
-- Shawna Morrison
And what of yet another serious accident at the intersection of Prices Fork Rd. and Heather Drive in Hethwood on Saturday? A Hummer (maybe an H2) nailed a VW new Beetle about mid-afternoon. This is a regular occurrence at this intersection, where people run the red light on PF or ignore the "No Turn on Red" sign from Heather. One would think the B'burg PD would monitor this intersection a little more closely (along with the Prices Fork/Toms Creek intersection) -- especially since that was the fairy tale told about why so much money was spent buying motorcycles and training the cops to ride them, to better hide to catch red-light runners. Has that happened? Not so much. Maybe town taxpayers should seek a refund of wasted tax dollars.
Comment by Joe Hokie — October 29, 2008 @ 1:08 pm