Driving Heedlessly

Brilliant performance by a male, a plumber; shouldn't he know better?

A parked car exploded and erupted in flames, scattering debris for a block and causing damage to surrounding apartment buildings in west-end Vancouver on Wednesday. The car's hood was metres away in a tree, the lower windows in at least four apartment buildings were smashed and the street was littered with the contents of the wrecked car.

The explosion was caused by a leaking acetylene gas tank stored in the car by a plumber whom police said was fortunate to have survived the blast.

Captain Gabe Roder, a spokesman for Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, said the plumber used a key fob from across the street to open the car shortly before 7 a.m. The electronic key is believed to have caused a spark. No residents were harmed, said Roder.

Postmedia News

Obviously this woman was rattled by multi-tasking

A woman is recovering following a bizarre accident in which she was run over three times by her own car. Police in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, say the newspaper delivery woman was making her rounds Wednesday and jumping in and out of her car frequently to drop copies of Le Nouvelliste on subscribers' doorsteps.

But things went awry during one parking attempt. Her transmission wound up in "reverse" instead of "park" as she got out. The woman got smacked by the car's open door as it backed up and ran over one of her legs as she was knocked to the ground. She attempted to pull herself up and reached into the car to shift the gears. But she fumbled and was struck a second time, resulting in her being run over again.

A third attempt produced the same results. She suffered serious injuries to her leg.

The Canadian Press

This woman obviously needed a stabilizing drink

Police in Windsor, Ontario, are investigating after a car drove through the window of the Garden Buffet restaurant on Thursday afternoon.

Sylvia Maniscalco was finishing lunch with her mother and grandmother when it happened around 2 p.m. "We heard the hugest sound. We thought a bomb had gone off", she said. "Everyone just got out of their seats and ran."

Police said no injuries were reported. Ms. Maniscalco said she saw the driver, a woman, back the car up into the parking lot and then come into the restaurant and sit down. She said the driver was strangely calm and explained she meant to hit the brake but instead hit the gas.

"I'm shocked", said Jack Liu, the owner of the restaurant, adding he had no idea how much it will cost to fix the damage.

Postmedia News