Woman who hit Cape building was driving recalled Toyota By Laura Crimaldi / BostonHerald.com Wednesday, March 10, 2010 The daughter of a 70-year-old driver who slammed into a Cape Cod medical building yesterday in a recalled Toyota RAV4 said her mother told her she was braking at the time of the crash.
“She had her foot on the brake and she was pulling into a parking space at her doctor’s office. All of the sudden, the car accelerated,” said Kim Wilkins, whose mother, Ann, was behind the wheel when the car slammed into the Seaside Medical building in West Yarmouth.
Wilkins said her mother told her once the car came to a stop she looked down and saw her foot was still on the brake pedal. She added the airbag never deployed.
“The bottom line is the air bag didn’t deploy when she hit the building. You would think in a brand new Toyota, the airbag would deploy,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said her mother purchased the 2010 model in November. She said her mother brought the vehicle to be checked out about a month ago because of a safety recall, but she did not know what work was done by the dealer.
Toyota recalled certain 2009-2010 RAV4 models on Jan. 21 for sticking accelerator pedals.
“She has a perfect driving record and Toyota doesn’t have a perfect record right now,” Wilkins said.
A message left for Ann Wilkins was not immediately returned.
Police Lt. Steven Xiarhos told the Cape Cod Times authorities cited Wilkins for failure to use care in stopping.
An initial review by police showed both the gas and brake pedals to be working properly, but investigators will conduct a more thorough examination in the coming days, Xiarhos told the paper.
“We are concerned about it,” he said. “We’ll want to check it out fully.”
Wilkins was treated at Cape Cod Hospital for minor injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.
|