Key in ignition, foot on brake... woman aged 80 in f lower show crash had notes on how to drive
aN elderly driver ploughed her car into a packed marquee at a village flower show – with written notes taped to the dashboard on how to start the vehicle.
The blue Toyota RaV4 automatic tore through stalls and display stands before colliding with a stage, leaving showgoers feeling ‘lucky to be alive’.
Their horror turned to anger as they discovered the handwritten notes on a sheet of paper. The instructions, photographed in the aftermath of the crash, read: ‘Key in ignition, foot on brake, start engine, gear lever into d, foot off brake.’
The driver was last night named locally as jewellery designer Marilyn Fountaine, 80, who was said to have only recently got the car.
The mayhem broke out as around 30 organisers and exhibitors were setting up at Burnham Market flower show in Norfolk around 11.30am on Saturday with a dozen people in the main marquee on the village playing field.
Paramedics treated several people, including the driver, but no one was seriously hurt. Flower show secretary dr diana Black said: ‘it was like a terrorist incident. it was absolutely terrible. When i saw that note i was in disbelief and started to feel angry – if you need written instructions, surely you shouldn’t be driving? ‘ We were astonished and hugely relieved that there were no fatalities or serious injuries but it was very distressing that all time and effort of the contestants who had entered the competitions in the marquee were virtually ruined.
‘We were also sorry that locals and visitors were deprived of the main part of what is normally a wonderful community event.’ dr Black, 53, from Great Massingham, Norfolk, described the driver as ‘shaken and apologetic,’ adding: ‘There could’ve been fatalities or serious injuries but miraculously there wasn’t.’ The victims treated by paramedics included Lawrence Rubin, treasurer of Burnham’s horticultural Society.
he said: ‘i was sitting in the marquee and suddenly i became aware that i’d been hit and things kept falling on top of me.
‘i woke up to see people around me and the ambulance had been called. i feel sorry for the woman but i think she has no right to be driving. i have got aches and pains and will be going for a cT scan. i am lucky to be alive.’
annette Lowe, 50, who had been in the tent, said: ‘We heard an almighty bang, i turned around and saw this car going through the stage, i just looked on in utter bewilderment. ‘although the car was going fast, everything else felt like it was moving in slow motion.’ The show went ahead as planned, but the marquee was closed to the public for safety reasons. Police described the incident as ‘an unfortunate, unintended acceleration’ and said no arrests had been made. Mrs Fountaine’s family refused to comment but locals suggested she was known for ‘erratic driving’. One added: ‘i think she had only just got herself a new second hand car. ‘it appears she was not really used to it and confused the brake and the accelerator.’
‘Someone could have been killed’