An elderly man was run over and killed by his own daughter on Father’s day after she made a mistake at the wheel. Christine Kershaw had taken her pensioner father to the Royal British Legion club in Farnborough, Hampshire, but after dropping him off, she accidentally put her Kia Sedona into drive, instead of reverse, crushing him against a handrail.
The woman had returned to the people carrier to straighten it up in the disabled parking space, but selected the wrong gear.
Speaking at her father’s inquest, a clearly sorrowful Miss Kershaw described the accident: “I pulled up at the club and my dad was trying to get out of the car almost before I got around,” she said. “I passed him his sticks and took him to the top of the stairs and then went back to the car to move it.
“I was just trying to get the car away from him, that’s all I remember.”
Kevin Spiller, a forensic specialist who helped police with the investigation, said the incident occurred as a result of a phenomenon known as unintended acceleration syndrome.
The term is used to describe when a driver panics and pushes the accelerator rather than the brake in an emergency situation.
Witnesses claimed they had seen the wheels of the Kia spinning even after the car had come to a stop against the door of the club.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
Via: GetHampshire
Image: Flickr
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