BANGOR, Maine — A Bangor woman suffered knee abrasions Monday night while trying to stop her runaway Subaru.
The accident happened about 8:45 p.m., when a 1993 Subaru Impreza owned by Tracy Kelly slid backward down the icy, short — but steep — driveway at 154 Ohio St., crossed the street and struck the house directly opposite at 151 Ohio St., Bangor police Officer Taylor Bagley said at the scene.
The homeowners, Judy Willis and Charles Johns, were settled in watching a movie when they were startled by a loud crash.
“It knocked all the stuff on this side of the porch down,” Willis said. “We had a hard time opening the door.”
Tracy’s 13-year-old son, Alex Chabre, who came outside to check up on the car after his mother was taken away in an ambulance, said his mom likely would go to St. Joseph Hospital to have her knees tended to. He planned to go up the street to see if one of his mom’s friends could help move the car back across the street.
Bagley said the car had about $1,000 in damage to its back end and that the impact from the crash likely cracked a structural beam on the porch of the house.
Willis said the porch had just been redone last year.
Willis also said that Monday night wasn’t the first time a vehicle has rolled down the driveway across the street and onto their property. She said work had been done over the years to lower the driveway’s grade and that some of the landlords of past years encouraged diagonal parking to prevent mishaps like the one that happened Monday.
Shortly after she and Johns moved in in 1977, their brand new Dodge pickup was struck by another runaway vehicle.
“Willis also said that Monday night wasn’t the first time a vehicle has rolled down the driveway across the street and onto their property.” … “their brand new Dodge pickup was struck by another runaway vehicle.”
They should considering using a bit of the insurance settlement to set a few concrete posts … may-be putting a birdbath on top of one of them would look nice.
Either that or an investment in 2 or 3 jersey barriers.
Yeah, nothing like jersey barriers to add to Ohio Street’s classy look and feel…
That’s what I was thinking…
Maybe I’m over tired, but I know I heard the Benny Hill song just now
My son was playing a game online a couple of weeks ago that had the Benny Hill song, so I kept asking him to play and asking my wife to dance. Great times!
concrete posts,jersey barriers,,, how about some sand and salt
how could a car slide down an icy driveway. come to a dry tarred road..and slide another 30 or more feet? sounds to me like it wasnt either in park..or in gear
Sounds like a great place to park your old car and collect on the insurance and upgrade once a year. Section 8 housing will all be parking over there. But then again they drive better cars then we do.
This getting run over by your own vehicle in your own driveway seems to be the hot trend in Maine these days.
“A Bangor woman suffered knee abrasions Monday night while trying to stop her runaway Subaru.”…….So, she skinned her knee, I guess “knee abrasion” sounds more newsworthy.
Suffered skinned knees and needed the ambulance to take her to the ER?
Oh, you didnt hear? Emergency rooms are the new doctors office. It’s perfect. You never need an appointment and Mainecare will foot the bill no questions asked.
I am not being critical. This kind of accident could happen to anyone, BUT society seems to have gotten out of the habit of using “emergency brakes” which have become better over the years.
The emergency brake is an added level of protection, and I find one that has great cost benefits.
We’re all relieved that no one was seriously hurt, BUT suppose some child had been making a snowman in the yard where this car wound up?
Making a snowman at 8:45pm in February is quite a stretch.
Especially with all that “fresh” snow as hard as ice on the ground :-)
Really, I can remember when I was young my parents having to almost drag us inside at night in the winter
Hmmmm…. “Emergency Brakes”? Maybe the “training today” is given “Emergency Brakes”, use during emergencies!!!
I guess you didn’t realize that “emergency brakes don’t work in reverse!!
You’ve got one way disc brakes?
Why don’t emergency brakes work in reverse?????
I agree with you about the e-brake thing , but I don’t see it as an indictment on society as a whole.
I agree with you about emergency brakes and the lack of use by most people. From the sounds of it, an emergency brake probably would have not been very helpful as the driveway was steep and ice covered.
I wish the reporter would use the correct term , first of all it slid down an icy driveway and then im sure it slid across the dry hot top also, no skid marks on the hot top in the pic ! Lets say it was left in too high a gear to keep it from rolling backwards or the e-brake didnt hold it when it was in neutral ! At least the cop in the video was brave enough to say it rolled across the street !
Car went on its own… And, it wasn’t a Toyota…Hmmmm?
Easy, you’ll get all the fans of Toyotas transportation appliances all riled up.
My OUTBACK ran away once, so I cut its gas allowance and it stopped. I hear the IMPRENZA is a wild ride.
When I read that it was a steep driveway, I thought it was a steep driveway. I know, I know, I trusted the BDN to give an actual account of the event. Wont happen again, I promise. I watched the video, as the rest of you did. Did anyone else laugh when you saw the driveway? I’m with alot of you on this one. I’m thinking someone forgot to put their car in ‘park” or leave it in gear and it rolled, not slid, down the driveway.
Those Subarus are known to have All Wheel Drive. Apparently they don’t have All Wheel Stop!
Oh the memories! :)
Late entry for the National Tobaggon Championships? I hear some people there might have suffered some abrasions as well…..
She obviously didn’t learn anything from the doctor…
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/02/10/news/midcoast/doctor-in-serious-condition-after-getting-dragged-and-pinned-by-truck/
Glad no one was hurt.
p.s. try turning your steering wheel so your tires go parallel to the street, if you slide like that you will only end up in the yard.
If you ask me the doctor did the right thing trying to stop the truck His kid was inside . Ant parent worth a dam would risk thier life for thier child. Yes he made a mistake not parking it right or mechanical failure. I think everyone has made that mistake just most times the car does not runaway.
I think most people within reason would try to stop a runaway car. Especially if your kid was inside. Try to jump in and hit the break. Not try and hold it back by hand A runaway car can kill someone I would rather have it be me if I was the one who parked the car than some innocent child.