A 65-year-old Lawrence woman suffered a knee injury Wednesday when she drove her car over an embankment in a parking lot.
According to accident reports, the woman was pulling her Lincoln Continental into a parking space at a lot in the 3300 block of Clinton Parkway when she accelerated instead of braking. The car drove over an embankment, struck a hand railing and two parked vehicles before stopping.
The woman was treated at the scene by Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical personnel.
Comments
BMI 3 years, 8 months ago
I hate it when that happens.
Pywacket 3 years, 8 months ago
Is there a "driving dyslexia" switch in people's heads that causes them to suddenly start mixing up the brake and accelerator pedals when they reach a magic age?
How many incidents have we read about where someone (always elderly, though this one is younger than most) smashes through the front of a store, plows through a crowd, or guns it through a red light or stop sign?
Some of these incidents have resulted in deaths and injuries, though the great majority do not and, thus, are relegated to the Weird News blurbs or "lighter news" filler plugs.
With so many of our repetitive motions being governed by "motor memory" rather than being something we actively have to think about, it's surprising to me. It seems like your feet should know the placement of your car's pedals so well that this would be an extremely rare occurrence.
Even if the driver has a new car, it's not like the placement is reversed in some models, and they have to get used to that. Very puzzling. Any neurologists (or other theorists) want to tackle this one? I'd love a plausible theory.
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