Car smashes into shop front in reverse after 82-year-old driver blinded by morning sun
AN 82-year-old driver had a lucky escape when he crashed his car while reversing round a corner.
The man was backing his Daihatsu Terios down Dean Street, Langley Mill, on to Cromford Road when he was blinded by the low sun.
Staff from the Bridge Cafe, close to where the accident happened, tended to the pensioner following the crash just before 9am yesterday.
Susan Pleace, proprietor of the cafe, said: "When I heard it happen, I thought a bomb had gone off.
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"Initially, I thought that someone had driven straight into the building but, when we went out, it turned out that it was totally the opposite.
"The poor man said he was reversing round the corner when he was blinded by the sun and accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake."
Susan said the man was unhurt but shaken and was given a cup of tea while he was checked over by ambulance crew.
The building the car hit was empty because Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire, which occupied it previously, went into administration in September.
Susan said: "It was lucky that it was empty. Normally there would have been four or five people in there. The main thing is he is all right."
Comments
by oh_j_say_john
Thursday, November 29 2012, 9:32PM
“Oh I nearly forgot DDWJWD !!!!!”
by oh_j_say_john
Thursday, November 29 2012, 9:31PM
“You don't believe all johns claims to fame do you ?.
Time and time again he talks out of his hairy brown drain pipe.
He's good at telling stories I'll give him that.”
by Antony_Rol
Thursday, November 29 2012, 9:20PM
“"""Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".
I wonder how many studid mistakes those critisizing this driver have made themselves whilst driving today? The only difference between you and him is that when you have done something stupid whilst driving you've got away with it ............up to now."
Indeed _Arawn_ just like admitting to deliberately soaking cyclists whilst passing, or breaking "meaningless" speed limits, driving in "pointless" bus lanes and all those other things people with 45 years unblemished driving licenses, advanced drivers and racing car pilots get away with.......up to now ;)”
by _Arawn_
Thursday, November 29 2012, 7:19PM
“"DDWJWD" ??????
Would you care to translate, or are you communicating with your mother ship ?”
by Andrew_Ilson
Thursday, November 29 2012, 6:53PM
“The warning from this picture is clear. DDWJWD.”
by Ted_Notts
Thursday, November 29 2012, 5:54PM
“I suspect that many of the people who doubt that the winter sun can badly affect visibility when driving are not themselves drivers. If this man was reversing around the corner he would probably have been using clutch control and was possibly in an awkward posture. That means the usual automatic location of the brake pedal is not so easy. Turning the corner into sudden blinding light made him try to do the sensible thing i.e. brake rather than carry on reversing with poor visibility. He hit the wrong pedal which is a mistake not a suggestion of senility as some posters seem to think.”
by _Arawn_
Thursday, November 29 2012, 5:54PM
“"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".
I wonder how many studid mistakes those critisizing this driver have made themselves whilst driving today? The only difference between you and him is that when you have done something stupid whilst driving you've got away with it ............up to now.”
by coralsea
Thursday, November 29 2012, 5:36PM
“well the sun has been around for milions of years and all of a sudden mr sunshine seems to get blamed for every road vehicle accident that happens, what about human error”
by stolen_ID
Thursday, November 29 2012, 4:29PM
“I agree with Georgiesmum
This is an accident that could have happened to anyone of any age, what is not good however is that on being blinded by the sun they clearly panicked or got confused and hit the wrong pedal. They are very lucky there was not more serious consequences, and it is not a good attribute for any driver, of any age, to display, people need to remain composed when in control of a car, and always expect the unexpected no matter what form that may take.
However where I don't agree with Georgiesmum is where she states "Drivers of ALL ages have accidents every day, ..... some because they couldn't wait 10 minutes to make that phone call"
These are not accidents but the almost inevitable results of the deliberate and planned action of using the telephone whilst controlling a moving vehicle”
by SmileyRamFan
Thursday, November 29 2012, 1:24PM
“Firstly, this is a bit of a non-story. But anyway, as it has now been brought to my attention...
This is an ageless incident really. Despite the age of the man driving the car, anyone driving this erratically should be forced to have there licence reviewed.
The article ignores other facts that should be taken into consideration regarding the poor [old] man:
-The street he reversed from is a cul de sac, he could have performed a 3 point turn much more safely than reversing out on to a busy road
- The shop window he found himself in was 2 / 3 metres short of his destination, meaning as well as hitting the accelerator he must have turned the wheel sharply too.
Or maybe the story has got the wrong angle completely, and he was just a disgruntled customer...”