Jan 28, 2010 11:32 pm US/Eastern
Driver: Toyota 'Accelerated' Into Pa. Laundromat
GLENSIDE, Pa. (CBS 3) ―
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Melody Cleaners & Laundromat on Easton Road in Glenside.
CBS
A driver claims her recalled Toyota suddenly accelerated causing her to crash through the front of a Montgomery County laundromat.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon at the Melody Cleaners & Laundromat on Easton Road in Glenside.
Marie Hodges, 68, told police she was trying to park her 2007 Toyota Camry when the car suddenly accelerated, causing it to careen through the front of the building and into several washing machines.
"She pushed on the gas and then she tried to stop and she just went forward. She couldn't stop, that's what she said," laundromat employee Sheila Roberts explained.
Toyota's recall of late model vehicles for sticking accelerator pedals include the 2007 Camry model that was involved in Wednesday's accident.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the floor mat on the accelerator pedal, but investigators believe the force of the crash might have shifted the floor mat. But another recent Toyota recall involved floor mats trapping accelerators, causing unintended accelerations.
"She said when she was shifting the car into park, she was parking the vehicle, that's when it suddenly accelerated," Lt. John Weed of the Cheltenham Township Police Department said.
When asked if she thought the gas pedal got stuck, driver Hodges told Eyewitness News: "Probably. And I can't remember if I had my foot on the gas pedal … the brake or the gas, I can't remember."
Hodges suffered minor injuries in the crash. There were no reports of any other injuries.
The Camry is currently in police custody pending an inspection by officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If NHTSA officials do not want to look at the car, it will be up to Hodges with her insurance to determine if the accelerator was at fault or if it was an accident.
The incident remains under police investigation.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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