Motorist Backs Into Hazlet Kmart
Miraculously, nobody was hurt outside or inside the store Tuesday.
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A car careened backwards into the front of the Hazlet K-Mart Tuesday morning -- and incredibly nobody got hurt.
Marie Barrese, 84, of Hazlet was backing her 2005 Buick LeSabre out of a parking space close to the store. "At the point she was ready to proceed forward, she stepped on the gas instead of the brake," said Hazlet Police Lt. Stephen Schmidt.
The car reversed backwards onto the low sidewalk, pushing a bottled water display into the two plate glass windows, which nearly impacted a children's coin-operated taxi car ride.
The crash caused minor structural damage to the store. K-Mart was closed for about a half hour while a building inspector checked the structure.
The Hazlet First Aid responded but Barrese declined medical attention. Although her car sustained damage to the rear bumper, she requested to be driven home, said police.
Ptl. John Fitzsimmons is the investigating officer.
Stuart
9:11 am on Wednesday, July 4, 2012
I'm not suprised. An 80 some year old woman ran through a park in NYC a number of years with her car killing picnicers. She stepped on the gas instead of the brake(very common when you are mentally confused with age). As people age their hearing,eyesight and mental processes become degraded. You can't reverse the onset of senility.
MaryAnn
3:15 pm on Thursday, July 12, 2012
I'm inclined to agree with Stuart, above. It is part of the aging process as mental faculties decline. I'm not sure what the answer is, and I don't like the idea of taking away anyone's driver's license. However, maybe a retesting of some sort should occur in order to renew one's license after a certain age. Thank goodness no one was hurt at K-Mart.