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Woman's car winds up in tree after foot gets stuck on gas pedal

Woman's car winds up in tree after foot gets stuck on gas pedal

Pittsburgh emergency workers made quick work of rescuing a driver whose car flew out of a parking lot on the South Side, jumped a curb and ended up stuck in a tree above the Monongahela River.

The driver, an older woman who declined to give her name, age or residence other than the north part of Pittsburgh, said she was leaving the UPMC Sports Performance Complex in the 3200 block of South Water Street when her foot became stuck on the gas pedal just before 11:30 a.m.

"It's an old car. The carpet was crumpled," the woman said. "Foot under the carpet."

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Sonya Toler, the city's public safety spokeswoman, said the chain of events began when the driver dropped her token to exit the lot.

"She said she moved the mat under her feet to retrieve the token, put it in the slot in the pay machine, and when the gate rose to allow her to exit she applied pressure on the gas pedal and realized that the mat was interfering with her pedal. Realizing that she was headed toward the river, she purposely drove her car into a tree, which is where the car came to rest."

The car, a red Subaru, traveled down a short slope and got wedged in a tree fronting the riverbank perhaps 10 feet off the ground.

The car was stable in the tree, and rescue workers were able to back it up onto a flatbed truck within about a half hour of the accident.

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The woman, who had just wrapped up physical therapy, said her seat belt was on and she was not hurt.

Her husband came to give her a lift home.

"I was a little shocked," he said before driving away.

Jonathan D. Silver: jsilver@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1962 or on Twitter @jsilverpg.

First Published: March 15, 2016, 4:33 p.m.

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