Wild Vid: 76 Year Old Crashes Car Into Florida Supermarket…and Keeps Driving
- Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:00pm by
Erica Ritz
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Police have concluded that Thelma Wagenhoffer, 76, accidentally crashed her 2004 Toyota Camry into a supermarket full of people Saturday because she pressed the wrong pedal after stopping for a stop sign.
Security footage shows the dramatic moment her car pushed ten people “out the way like bowling pins,” in the words of one witness. The crowd included a mother and a baby in a stroller.
The crash begins around 0:30 (Warning: Intense Content):
If that isn’t shocking enough, reports say the woman continued driving for almost 50 feet before roaring to a stop between aisles.
At that time, shoppers and store employees gathered around the white vehicle in an attempt to free an 83-year old man who was trapped underneath. They succeeded.
The vehicle can be seen in the top right of the image
While the 83-year old man is still in the hospital with two others, shoppers say it’s a miracle no one was killed.
In fact, the first two to be hit– a mother and her three-month old son– are both relatively unscathed. The mother suffered cuts on her legs, while the baby was found safe and sound in his stroller, with nothing more than a bump on the head.
“It was like a little angel was watching over him,” his mother remarked.
Thelma Wagenhoffer (Photo: CF News 13)
It hasn‘t been an easy month for Florida’s supermarkets. Roughly two weeks ago, a plane crashed into another store of the same chain, Publix, and miraculously, no one died there either. The store’s resilience shows, as this particular store was fully functional the next day (with a sheet of plywood covering the gaping hole left by the Toyota Camry).
The woman’s 2004 vehicle was inspected for mechanical failures, but was found to be working perfectly. She has since been charged with careless driving, and will have to appear in court.
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Comments (108)
BULLDOG98
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:48amI think older driver’s are just as dangerous as younger drivers, just for different reasons. I have to worry about elderly drivers driving 20mph under the speed limit and cutting me off for failing to look , and for teens, just them cutting me off as they zoom by.
Report Post »koyettsu
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 8:15amI still believe that once you hit a certain age you need to be tested yearly or maybe even more with an actual driving test because this kind of thing happens a lot more than one thinks.
Report Post »kadster01
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 8:53amNot to mention health issues that can set in at any time. My poor mother, God rest her soul, was only in her early 70′s when dementia set in. After running into several cars because she “just forget to take her foot off the gas and press the brake,” she finally took the initiative to stop driving and sell her car.
Report Post »atechgeek
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 9:46am“Thanks. Hey, I guess they’re right. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose. I’ll be right back. Don’t you go dying on me!”
Report Post »Politryx
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 9:56amWhy isn’t it a commercial “building code” that there be concrete posts type barriers in front of doors to businesses so close to parking and moving vehicles. I know Wal-mart’s have them where I live as do most other major retailers. I‘m sure the attorney’s for the injured in this case will use that fact as they sue Publix for willful negligence.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 11:02amBack in the days of Horses… the Young & Old just fell off… and killed themselves. Going back to Horses… would fix your problem!
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 2:07pm@POLITRYX
Get a grip, this isn’t willful negligence on the part of the store. It’s a woman that has no business driving getting behind the wheel. And the little concrete posts in front of walmart are only designed to keep people from accidentally slowly veering off in the direction of pedestrians. They would have zero effect on a car coming head on at full speed like the car was doing in this case.
Report Post »BS61
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 5:52pmI agree – when I lived there, the cops were ticketing people for driving too slow! On a daily basis I had tourist backing up on I-4 thinking that they missed their last exit ever for Disney and there was always a local senior (who don’t have to renew their DL) driving against traffic on the wrong side of the road. I despised living in a tourist/snowbird state!
Report Post »BULLDOG98
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 8:16pm@ koyettsu
Report Post »I completely agree that once you hit a certain age you should have testing, something like a ride-a-long, something that your driving skill can be evaluated. Just today I saw a lady taking a left nearly drove into a motorcyclist as he was waiting in the left turn lane, a couple of seconds before she would have hit him she finally saw what she was doing and swerved back to her lane.
4blackhorses
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 8:20pmMy Motner, who will soon be 87, transports herself around in her own car for her various needs just fine and has been accident free for the last 15 years. That accident was at the of the driver’s fault.
Report Post »You can’t go by age but rather driving record.
Pilgrimsarbour
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 10:05pmOne of my greatest fears is that no matter what I’ve accomplished in my life, who I helped, who I loved and who loved me, I will always be remembered for that group of people I slammed my car into and murdered on a sidewalk in some town or city when I was like 86 or something. I hope that my family will counsel me long before anything like that can happen and that I’ll have the grace and wisdom to give up my driving privileges.
Report Post »BULLDOG98
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 10:38pmYou can’t specifically go by driving record either. If an older driver never has had a ticket or ever been in an accident does not mean that they are safe drivers. They may not be in the accident but I have seen many times when an older driver is driving so slow that everybody is trying to avoid them nearly gets into numerous accidents. I do not think there is a perfect answer but at a certain age I do think a someone riding along is a better option to see if they should keep their license.
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:46amApparently she watched The Blues Brothers too many times
Report Post »changedone
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 7:56amI was just thinking “Lotta room in this mall!”
Report Post »MTHarpooner
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 2:36pmThe new Oldsmobiles are in early this year.
Report Post »pissantno.10
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 5:34pmthat was the first all in door mall in the county, i went there when it opened god i getting old
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:17amMaybe she was a convert to Islam and wanted to go on Jihad against some infidels. Did that store sell alcohol or pork?
Report Post »txgrsmnky
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:15amToo bad it wasn’t a Whole Foods. I think Mrs. Magoo‘s gonna be ridin’ a hoveround to the store from now on.
Report Post »weremoose
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:11amIt’s time to start suing states that hand out licenses to high risk drivers without requiring a driving test.
Report Post »trueamerican40
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:10amRetesting at age 70 is a good idea but we’re not going to need it when gas reaches $12.50 a gallon. I guess I’ll ride my 1952 Schwinn…tough on the calves though.
Report Post »onetoomany
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:44pmWow, she had to be impaired somehow either by medicine, alcohol, or just plain confused. My mom did a similar thing, pushing on the gas pedal instead of the brake. Just because you have been driving for 50 or 60 years doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. My mom gets confused a lot and so does another lady her age that I know, they function pretty well, but driving? Why didn’t she freak out and slam on the brakes when she saw what was happening? She just keeps going thru the store. Was she thinking why are all of these people and canned goods in the street? I can’t believe those people were not hurt, looks like they got thrown and run over. Wow!
Report Post »toto
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:16amHad a similar thing happen to me when in my early 30′s, no injuries thankfully. The unbelief at what’s happening is paralytic. Takes time for your brain to process that the car is going because your foot is on the gas instead of the brake, then make the adjustment and take your foot off the gas and stomp the brake. I didn’t go nearly as far as this lady, it’s just an unreal experience.
Report Post »Over16Under31
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:33pmLIsten people it is the responsibility of the Families of these Seniors to be the ones to tell them the hard truth, and for those who don’t have anyone a test. We took the keys from my grandmother, the true Matriarch of our family and it was not pretty, but it was necessary.
Report Post »Families, funny how it always comes back to Family. The breakdown of families across our country is the sickest of our ills, and i am fully aware of the Financial storm we still have to live thru from now until who knows when. Babies who know nothing having babies who will have no chance for a decent start to their lives. Sad truly sad.
joymk
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 2:22pmAs much as I would love to say that is the ticket, having been in this situation recently, it’s not as easy as it sounds, and if rules and regulations which are strict on teens would also be strict on old people, we’d be safer. My in laws (both) had alzheimers. Because of privacy laws, the doctors didn’t tell any of us, though we suspected something was wrong. But the doc saying that they were fine made it harder for us to push the issue. When I took their keys, they hired a locksmith to get new keys made, and had them bill me. When we took the car, they called the police to report a robbery. The police told us that we had “no right” to do so (the car is covered in dents, and as my mother in law put it, “I help him drive because he doesn’t remmber what all the knobs and pedals do”). A friend showed me how to disable the car, so they got it fixed. Later, we damaged the car delibertely, and they bought a new one. D’oh! Their reasoning was that if they have a license, they must be okay. SO if the sec. of state was to enact such a regulation, it would help immensely with this issue. In our case, they viewed it as their kids not loving them (alzheimer’s causes paranoia, btw). Forget the entitlement attitude of the younger ones. The elderly have quite the entitlement attitude going on. They even had a counselor from the senior center call and chew us out over this issue. After all, driving is their “Right” after all their generation did for us, blah blah, blah.
Report Post »GoodStuff
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:00pmThis crap is happening all the time. Old people, no longer “with it” crashing into crowds of people. States need to start testing drivers above 75, once a year, to test eyesight, reflexes, peripheral vision and mental capacity. We have an age minimum, 16, there should be a maximum. I have personal experience, my 75 year old grandpa fell asleep and drove into the highway median. My grandma drives all over the road. I’d take away her keys if I had the ability to.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:27pmI would bet grandpa was a crappy diver when was 25….. I do agree with retesting at 70. But it’s not going happen because older people vote.
Report Post »JJ Coolay
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:26amThat’s the problem with Congress. They’re too concerned about keeping their job rather than doing the right thing.
Report Post »So you get voted out… so what. You should only be there for 4 to 8 years anyway. Go back home and find a job like the rest of us. It was never meant to be a life long position.
oriondma05
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:56pmMy brother calls the Q-Tips.
I asked my mom when I was young why they don’t test older drivers or take their licenses away? She said driving is the last freedom they have.
And I said, so you have no problem with someone in their 60′s-80‘s killing someone in their teens or 20’s so they can have that last bit of “freedom”?
Seasoned citizens are also a large voting block, hence why there are few if any laws that combat this non-sense.
Report Post »toto
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:19amGive me a break, most 60+ drivers are still statistically safer and have fewer accidents than teens and 20′s.
Report Post »JJ Coolay
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:27am60+ and 75+ are 2 very different things.
Report Post »Constructionist
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:48pm“roaring to a stop”? I’m pretty sure you just made that up.
Report Post »BenInNY
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 8:12amI don’t know, I roared to a crawl this morning when I woke up :)
Report Post »TulsaYeeHaw
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:38pmYeah, younger people are far worse drivers, aren’t they?
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:30pmMaybe she heard a rumor that there was some Obama cash that was being redistributed in Publix, and wanted to get a good spot in line.
Report Post »JJ Coolay
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:34am16 yeas old is debatably too young to start driving, but you can‘t say their reflexes aren’t at their peak. They‘re only dangerous because they’re careless and feel invincible. (Not all of them, I’m just generalizing).
Report Post »Elderly are dangerous because their reflexes are WAY slower than someone in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.
Hickory
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:35pmMany years ago, I was at the airport in West Palm Beach, FL. While standing at the check-in counter, I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. It was skycaps running past the front windows. In the next instant, a station wagon chasing them crashed through bags and suitcases and then into a huge column. We all ran out to see a woman close to 90 yrs old behind the wheel and she was still racing the motor. Six arrivals from New York had decided they would pool together and rent a big car. She was the one with the best eyesight so she was chosen to pick up the car and drive. Well, she brought the car to pick the rest up but could not get off the accelerator to push the brake. So she just pushed it to the floor. She had not driven is almost 15 yrs.
Report Post »jharper
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 4:37pmI lived in West Palm Beach for decades. The real problems like that started happening when Century Village was built. Most of the residents came from NYC and had little or no experience driving. So they thought if they bought really big cars, that would solve the problem. Cars went crashing through store fronts all the time there. It was always someone old that lived in Century Village. On another note, they were really mean people. They couldn’t keep bus drivers, maids, or maintance people because the residents were so abrasive. They would go to all you can eat buffets and fill up bags they had brought. One eatery put a sign on the front door that made headlines “Century Villagers No Longer Welcomed!” They would steal all the Sweet and Low off the tables at any restaurant they went to until the wait staff would have to carry it in their aprons and you would have to ask for it.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:35pmIs this what Beck had in mind when he was pushing food insurance.
Report Post »bankerpapaw
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:32pm“Did I do that?”
Report Post »Hickory
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:36pmNo Banker, they blame the car.
Report Post »GoodStuff
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:01pmOld people always blame the car.
Report Post »Paul
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:26pmBlues Brothers remake ?
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:57pmJake and Elwood…
Report Post »Paul
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:25pmChickens and White Bread ! and a Coke!
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:24pmMaybe Obama willl get a new job as a chaffeur. He and Holder can switch off driving her. If they are too busy partying, then Bill Ayers, or Ivan Jones might fill in. Just please, if she is having having problems, get her checked, and maybe someone else to drive her. She looks so very tired confused.
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:21pmDam bluehairs now I see why some people say AARP is a militant group. Suicide granny drivers.
Report Post »THXll38
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:30pmLOL . . . good one!
Report Post »GeorgieJo
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 11:33pmAARP got zillions of stimulus $
Then they pushed for ObummerCare
They are militant Democrats,
OMG 2012
Report Post »Tri-ox
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:20pmThank God that no one was killed.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:18pmClearly it is time for the women to give up her drivers license. When you get confused and can’t remember your gas pedal from your break pedal time to hang up the wheels granny.
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:15pmSomebody needs their license revoked. (I’m sorry about your loss of independence, Ma’am.)
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:12pmWas’nt me. Thats my story and im stickin to it
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:12pmA show of hands… how many say Thelma’s driving days are OVER? It’s unanimous. Hand over the keys, Granny. (Geez!)
Report Post »rich_b
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 1:52amthe sad thing is, she will likely keep driving.
Report Post »THXll38
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:08pmNow that is a bowling for old people STRIKE! This is BS! Old farts are more dangerous than drunk drivers. Why don’t drunk drivers get a careless driving ticket? Oh by the way. . . there are a lot of old jacked up peeps behind the wheel that shouldn’t be.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 12:58amand a lot of crack-head rednecks
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 7:30am“Death Race 2000”… day… please stand near the road!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:06pmMiracles still happen, God was watching over the baby and many others that time.
Report Post »shotzie
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 10:22pmAmen to that. Amazing any of those people survived. I have to wonder if members of her family have had a conversation prior to this about her no longer driving but were just too timid to take the step to demand it. It’s a hard situation. So hard to tell from one photo but she looks totally unscathed.
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