Pedal meddles with oil change plans
Crews load a PT Cruiser owned by Clarence Jones onto a flatbed tow truck after a Lightning Lube employee drove through the shop’s garage door after accidentally hit the gas pedal while moving the vehicle into the service are. (Photo by DAVID KEYES)
SANDPOINT — Clarence Jones was just getting ready to enjoy a bag of popcorn in Lightning Lube’s waiting area when his car left without him.
A Lightning Lube employee was driving Jones’ PT Cruiser into the service area and when she tried to push on the brakes, she discovered the hard way that the car was specially equipped with two gas pedals instead of one.
“I heard the car rev up and then she really floorboarded it when she thought she was pushing the brake and was really giving it the gas,” Jones said.
The PT Cruiser shot through the Lightning Lube’s closed garage door and T-boned a passing car. The Lightning Lube employee was taken to the hospital for observation. She was released with a scratch on a finger.
The passengers in the passing car weren’t hurt. Sandpoint Police are investigating the accident.
Scott Hartman had a unique view of the incident. He was in the pit waiting to change the vehicle’s oil.
“Oh, boy, it all happened so fast I had to dive for the floor,” Hartman said.
“I knew it (the PT Cruiser) was going to go through the door. You can’t believe how loud that was.”
The car also took out a light pole across the street and the PT Cruiser’s front bumper ended up on the sidewalk, several yards away from the accident.
Jones said the car has two accelerators because his wife has back problems and can’t safely reach the area where a standard pedal is located.
“There is a sticker that explains that the car has two gas pedals and we have had our oil done here before,” he said. “I think she probably just panicked when she kept speeding up.”
Longtime owner, and former Sandpoint mayor Gene Holt, was more concerned about his employee than the damage to his iconic Sandpoint business.
“We can fix the door,” said Holt, who has owned Lightning Lube for 24 years.
As Holt and Hartman cleaned up the glass and tried to straighten the twisted metal, Jones had to call his wife, who was shopping at Coldwater Creek, to tell her they needed to find a ride home to Bonners Ferry.
Right after the melee, Barb Nicholich pulled up for an oil change and waited quietly in the non-destroyed portion of the business.
“Can you come back?” Holt said. “We are kind of busy right now.” Nicholich promised to come back when things quieted down.
The name of the Lightning Lube employee was not released.