I've often thought of doing the same thing...

Posted by steves_66 (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A second drive-thru window ... Genius!

Posted by OhTheHumanity (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 1:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Do they keep celery in the stalk room?

Posted by MikeLewis1 (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 1:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"stalk room"? I'm guessing someone can't spell "stock".

Posted by themuzicman (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I hope they took her license right on the spot....

Posted by ENJOYA (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

to SteveS: That was funny! Thanks for the afternoon coffee break laugh :))

Posted by ms1234 (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Women drivers, don't you just love them.

Posted by POLOinDC (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Have had those urges at the DMV several times!

Posted by malinda.walker (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"Women drivers, don't you just love them." Posted by POLOinDC (anonymous
-----

Insurance companies do. That's why their rates are lower.

Posted by dottie_b (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 5:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Geezers and grannies are always making the news because they're so stupid that they confuse the brake and the accelerator. While a funny story that she plowed into the DMV, it wouldn't have been if she had plowed into a crowd of people.

Posted by checkered1 (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 5:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"You said 'turn right when you see the red brick building'!"

Posted by KidTJ (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 6:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)

to checkered1(anonymous)

"Geezers and grannies are always making the news because they're so stupid that they confuse the brake and the accelerator."

This type of accident is certainly not limited to older females. Just today in Houston:

"HOUSTON -- Two women were killed and a child was injured Friday after a car crashed into their garage on Gil Junior Lane at Armatta in southeast Houston.

Police said a 49-year-old male family member was in a car in the driveway when he pushed the accelerator instead of the brake. The vehicle crashed into the women, who were cooking in the garage."

Posted by siewick (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 7:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Guess she won't be getting her driver's license just yet . . . .

Posted by AZANNE (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 7:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Not to excuse the woman for her mistake, but judging from the picture there were no (even minor and inexpensive) safety devises to stop a car from rolling directly into the building. It appears the curb is at street level there and there are no tire stoppers that are typical in parking lots everywhere. So there was nothing to stop the car before it crashed into the building. Its understandable how this would eventually happen. A $50 concrete block would have made all the difference.

Posted by jryan758 (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 8:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Stupid DMV office should not have been in her parking spot.

Posted by jhbyer (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 8:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ooopps.....

Posted by PalmSpringsGirl (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 9:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)

People make mistakes. I actually think charging her with reckless driving was maybe a little harsh. She wasn't being reckless, she just made a mistake.

Posted by va2bkk (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 9:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

She should absolutely be charged with recklessness. Her mistake was failing to be careful in operating the vehicle...in pushing the pedals. Who hits their brake pedal so hard while parking that hitting the accelerator instead results in not just jumping forward half a car length, but forcefully enough to take out a wall. Reckless is carelessness which is how the driver behaved. What if someone where standing there?

Posted by kc31kgal (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is the 2nd time in 1-2/yrs the same DMV has been hit by a motorist.

Posted by AlbyVA (anonymous) on July 17, 2009 at 10:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

thank goodness noone was hurt. should we wait until she kills someone to take her license?

Posted by PriorKnowledge (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 3:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Looking at the picture, I do not think it would have taken much of a hit to take out the wall. It looks like a brick veneer rather than an actual brick wall. Imagine how much damage someone would have done if the impact were intentional - say from someone with an axe to grind againt the DMV.

Posted by d86-commerce (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 5:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Looking at the picture, I do not think it would have taken much of a hit to take out the wall. It looks like a brick veneer rather than an actual brick wall. Imagine how much damage someone would have done if the impact were intentional - say from someone with an axe to grind againt the DMV.

Posted by d86-commerce (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 5:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

she was in a rash move she has no intention
to run into the house wall because she is not driving from another place as she just about to leave the place. An accident has no
time to warn drivers but may occur in any time you think it may not happen. She probably be surprised when this happened, and would be very sad because the car does not belong to her Most of all her life is more important than a car.

Posted by itokarei (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 5:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

"itokarei" - what are you talking about? What's a "rash move"? She wasn't "just about to leave the place", she just got there. And her car certainly does belong to her - she drove her own car into the wall as she was arriving at the DMV attempting to park. If her life is more important than her car, then she needs to learn to drive, or she could put her own (or someone else's) life in danger by driving that way.

Posted by nucarpt (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 7:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Virginia drivers believe that commuting is a contact sport and are the bane of the roads in DC and MD, let alone VA.

Posted by anthonygualtieri (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Yes, America, Virginia drivers really are that bad!

Of course, if you have driven around the roads of NoVA, you would know why. VDOT likes to make each new intersection different from every other, so there is no consistency and traffic piles up while motorists try to figure out what the heck they are supposed to be doing.

Given that, how can we expect VA drivers to be able to park? Naturally, someone placed the DMV in the wrong place!

Posted by dguyton (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Regarding the commments about insurance costs....

Women drivers are involved in more accidents than men (by number of incidents).

Women tend to be involved in lower speed collisions.

Men are in fewer accidents, but they tend to involve higher speed (i.e. more damage). I am not saying speed is a factor, I am saying the laws of physics indicate the damage will generally be more extensive. At least that is the prevailing wisdom.

Men also drive more miles than women on average, tend to get more traffic tickets, and more speeding tickets in particular. Add this all up and you have the required ingredients within our litiguous society to create an environment where men pay more.

Posted by dguyton (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Looks like "failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle" and not "reckless driving". The ticketing official must not have had a sense of humor.

Posted by dprpl (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The gas pedal is on the right, the brake pedal is on the left...........

Posted by fstrimper (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

It's Obama's fault!

Posted by jabreal00 (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I was a clerk in a convenience store in Charlottesville VA. A *young* woman drove a car not just into the front of the store, but *completely inside the store*, i.e., the back end of the car was inside the store. The engine was roaring, the rear tires spinning, burning right through the tile to the concrete pad. A *young* woman--with her preschool son in the car--on a side street in a townhouse neighborhood across the street from me simply backing her car from a parking space somehow ended up backing the car up onto the base of a lamppost, not only toppling the lamppost but flipping the car onto its roof. Nonetheless, Checkered1 has a point. There is concern about some loss of capability of the oldest drivers. It's not "stupidity," checkered1, any more than your choice of words is. I agree with dprpl. "Reckless" is the young guy in a fast car weaving back and forth from lane to lane, blowing by the rest of us on the highway like the rest of us were standing still, not someone's grandmother pressing on the wrong pedal accidentally in a parking lot.

Posted by cmckeonjr (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 9:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hopefully, this won't result in an "unintended acceleration" suit against Honda, such as hppened to (and killed) the Audi 5000 a few years back.

Posted by RogParish (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Given her age, it would not surprise me to learn she is a "two-footer" meaning right foot on the gas and left foot on the brake. My mother drove that way, and I saw her move the wrong foot on occasion.

Posted by teden (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 10:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Most "Grannies and Gezzers" are not stupid. In many cases their doctors are giving them enough drugs to get through the day that they can barely keep abreast of what is around them. Medication - drugs - and driving don't mix well as has been known for decades. What is new is the way medication is dispensed without thought of the effects on society at large. I'm talking to you, Dr. GP.

Posted by rmtaylor2 (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ticketed for Reckless driving ?... It was simply an accident , if you view DMV'S booklet for " Reckless driving "Reckless driving is most commonly associated with excessive speeding. Racing is also a traffic offense which will be charged as reckless driving. When a driver is going 20 or more miles per hour above the speed limit, this constitutes driving recklessly. The specific definition per Virginia law is driving “on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person…”

A simple reckless driving charge will qualify as a Class 1 Misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 12 months in prison and/or fines of up to $2,500. Reckless driving may be charged as a felony when a driver causes the death of another.

United States is Bankrupt, as well as each state, just another way to milk the tax payers. Same ole song and dance....

Posted by karenzaa (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 3:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

RogParish, just for the record I was a passenger in an Audi back then and personally experienced an uncommanded acceleration. This flaw was for real, and while some incidents may have been fabricated I believe that many more were never reported. The driver (and owner) of the vehicle is not the type to engage in the American sport of suing, but he traded the car in within a couple of weeks of that experience (at a busy intersection).

Posted by WODRR (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 4:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

anthonygualtieri - i beg to differ anytime you see bad driving behavior or dangerous driving (like running red lights, speeding, erratic lane changing, ignoring pedestrians in crosswalks)around the dc metro chances are the car has maryland tags... so back off of va drivers!

Posted by rikkirat (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 5 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Driving under the influence=DUI and Driving while intoxicated=DWI are two common acronyms. Should there also be Driving over age=DOB?

Posted by jabreal00 (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 5:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Driving under the influence=DUI and Driving while intoxicated=DWI are two common acronyms. Should there also be Driving over age=DOA?

Posted by jabreal00 (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 5:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

West Virginia drivers are the bane of the Western Loudoun driver's existence...speeding, tailgating, cutting through neighborhoods and using narrow back roads as their personal commuter routes. If the commute is too long why don't people move closer to their jobs? A lovely house in WV with a job in Tysons can't be worth it.

Posted by bayareafan (anonymous) on July 18, 2009 at 6:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You're worried about a wall. I was struck by a 20 year old female who had been at Clyde's in Reston drinking. She admitted so at the scene, both to me and the officer. She ran the the red light there and plowed into my car. I was taken away by ambulance ...have had 2 surgeries, 2 yrs of physical therapy and chiropractic care, lost my townhouse and had to move into a small 1 bdrm place in Leesburg. She was only charged with failing to pay full time attention. Seems it was the officer failing to pay full time attention. Yes, Officer Gray, zero tolerance in this state ... field sobriety required, read that drivers license and check that date of birth, actually take down witness information. Charge her with running the red light. She admitted to doing it. Who's side are you on?
Leesburg, meanwhile, is proud of ticket revenue, but there are plenty of bars here. How about some DUI arrests? Save some lives. Mine will never be the same, but maybe you can save someone else.
EVER.

Posted by lovecoclare (anonymous) on July 19, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

After looking at the pictures of the accident it doesn't look to me like she was even in a parking space. There is a wheelchair ramp under her car so it looks like she was in a no parking place. I'm not familiar with the parking lot layout there so I could be wrong, but why would there be a wheelchair ramp in a parking space?

Posted by yaddayadda (anonymous) on July 19, 2009 at 7:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This picture from Loudoun Times gives a clear view of the parking lot and building where the crach took place. It is obvious that she was parking in a parking spot, not a wheelchair ramp.

http://www.loudountimes.com/media/photos...

Posted by momof2 (anonymous) on July 20, 2009 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

To all of you who are jumping to conclusions and making gross generalizations about gender and age, consider this: how would you feel about that treatment if this happened to you or your loved one?

Posted by momof2 (anonymous) on July 20, 2009 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

On the bright side, she was driving a Civic Hybrid, so there wasn't much fuel wasted on the way through the building.

Posted by OhTheHumanity (anonymous) on July 20, 2009 at 9:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Wow, LoudounExtra readers LOVE to come on this site and just rip people to shreds, huh?

Posted by Sunbrst22 (anonymous) on July 20, 2009 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)