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Man's parked rental car lurches forward, plows into Starbucks
"The inside of the coffee shop was strewn with chunks of glass, upended furniture, spilled coffee and drops of blood." Don't miss the snarky comments below the reporter's byline. (Bellingham Herald | Photo gallery of the crash scene)
May 6, 2008 | Permalink
Comments
Hmm. No mention of the age of the driver.
Posted by: stopeatingmysesamecake | May 6, 2008 2:11:25 PM
Wizadry!
Posted by: sometimesilie | May 6, 2008 2:22:32 PM
"Felmley identified the driver as Clinton Worstman, 70, of Arlington, Texas."
Posted by: Grace | May 6, 2008 2:29:43 PM
"Felmley identified the driver as Clinton Worstman, 70, of Arlington, Texas."
There's his age for yah!
Posted by: that one lady | May 6, 2008 2:34:38 PM
Wow....and he hadn't even had his coffee yet......can anyone say decaf please!
Posted by: ttjack | May 6, 2008 2:56:22 PM
"Surged"
That's a new one. I think I prefer the old, "accelerator got stuck."
Posted by: Big Kahuna | May 6, 2008 3:12:51 PM
I've driven many rental cars in my professional career and I have to say that the worst one had brakes that would rumble on an extreme stop.
Did you see the Chrysler 300? It was practically brand new.
I agree with Big Kahuna, sounds fishy.
The witnesses said that the wheels were still spinning. If his "lurching" story is to hold up that means that both the accelerator AND brakes had to have gone bad at the exact same time, otherwise depressing the brakes would have stopped the wheels from burning rubber in the same spot.
Horrible accident for those people. I hope everyone comes through this ok and glad no one was more seriously injured.
Whole thing makes more of a case for my belief that our older citizens should be tested more often after the age of 62. Perhaps every 2-3 years they must take a drivers test? Why can't the DMV make it a free test, to help those on fixed incomes, but still a required test?
Posted by: KindredMac | May 6, 2008 4:25:12 PM
I see the elderly still escape responsibility for their inability to drive.
Yeah...the car 'surged' all on it's own. I wonder if that would work when I get pulled over for speeding. "Officer, my car just surged as I passed in front of your speed trap!"
Maybe if I was 70...
Posted by: Sean, Torrington CT | May 6, 2008 4:28:19 PM
Holy Shit!!! This is the greatest Obscure story of all time. I can stop visiting this site now. This is a combination of all things that Jim loves: 1. Old people driving through buildings 2. Starbucks. I'm done,this story cannot be topped.... ever.
Posted by: JDubs | May 6, 2008 5:20:31 PM
Surged!?!? The car is 25 feet into the building and the fake wood floor has melted tire marks where the gas pedal was obviously held to the floor. Sir, just admit you hit the gas instead of the brake... and then when the car didn't stop, you pressed harder (on the gas).
It's a shame the airbags didn't go off. The car would have stored the snapshot of the accelerator at 99% with the brake released.
But really... wouldn't the world be a better place with a few less starbucks customers... and stores?
Posted by: zombie00x | May 6, 2008 7:53:13 PM
Next time you get bihind some old geezer driving to slow -count to ten and be happy as this is the difference between a fender bender and a fatality. I learned this with my father in law before I finally was able to step in and take away his car keys.
On a side note did Ashley get her latte?
Posted by: spstevens | May 6, 2008 9:42:49 PM
Starbucks isn't a drive-thru?
Obviously the ol' geezer did not know.
Personally, I hate Starbucks coffee.
I am not into all the additives - discarded them 20 years ago. Black coffee - straight.
And Starbucks black coffee is HORRIBLE!
Posted by: Anna | May 6, 2008 11:11:16 PM
THAT IS WHAT EMERGENCY BRAKES ARE USED TO PREVENT.
Posted by: ULTRA | May 7, 2008 4:25:03 AM
I only use my brakes in an emergency, like when I don't think the car will otherwise stop.
Posted by: SteveO | May 7, 2008 5:00:49 AM
I love the pics! They show the injured woman being wheeled out on a backboard by an EMS crew and in another pic, she's sitting on a chair being checked out (possible neck injury), apparently crying (understandable), and yet, still texting (cause a possible spinal injury ain't gonna stop the lines of communication)!! Gotta love it. Bet she drives with a dog in her lap...LOL
Posted by: jojo | May 7, 2008 5:56:26 AM
Did somebody rearrange the furniture after the crash!? The path from the sidewalk to the car is not clear....what's up with that? Oh btw, those 300s are sweet....had one on a rental not too long ago...didn't have any brake/accelerator probs though.
Posted by: thetruth | May 7, 2008 7:11:49 AM
I honestly didn't think of it this way until now, but it seems there are some things to point out about sticking accelerators:
-There doesn't seem to be any correlation between Make or Model - it happens to all brands.
-I don't often hear of recalls for sticking pedals, but my biggest exposure is to stories in OSRR.
-The malfunction seems to exclude drivers under 50 years of age (but again, we may be getting a skewed sample here).
Posted by: Inigo Montoya | May 7, 2008 12:11:10 PM
I'm related to someone who owns a 300 and it is one driving dream mobile. Except that you really do have to look at the speedometer from time to time. [Humming: 95 is the route you are on, not the speed limit sign.]
Inigo, Check the back columns on The straight dope by cecil adams. He did a nice little dissection of older folks, car choice, "involuntary acceleration" and running into, over, through things because the driver hit the wrong pedal. There are absolutly some correlations.
The transportation safety board has been quietly keeping tabs on this as well, probably to support legislation about elderly drivers. Such legislation will never happen, but they are keeping track anyway.
Posted by: nellagain | May 7, 2008 1:09:13 PM
