Driver entered with car through a bank window in Helsinki
According to police information, after the accident, the woman said she could no longer indicate which pedal she had pressed.
Helsinki police has imposed a driving ban on a woman born in the 1950s who drove her car through the window of a bank in the Finnish capital city.
According to Police information, the incident occurred on Tuesday 21 January at Munkkivuori shopping centre (in Finnish, Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus). Police said they are investigating the matter as a serious endangerment of road safety.
Police explained that, according to the driver, the accident occurred when she was driving her car in Raumatie street and for some reason than she cannot recall the accelerator pedal got stuck. Unable to stop the vehicle, she crashed into the bank's window.
When a police patrol arrived at the scene, the front of the vehicle was inside of the bank. On site there were also emergency services and first aid units, though fortunately nobody was injured.
"The suspect said that the situation had happened very quickly, and she had not been able to do anything. She had driven in the curve straight towards the bank. In the preliminary investigation, the woman could no longer state which pedal she had pressed and why the car had crashed into the bank's window. According to the woman, her speed before she lost control of the vehicle was 20-30 kilometers per hour", explained the investigating officer Sampo Suomala from the Helsinki Police Department.
Car completely unusable
According to the preliminary investigation, the vehicle was completely damaged and unusable after the crash. Both airbags had tripped, but the car's pedals were perfectly normal. On the spot, police found nothing in front of the pedals that could have caused the pedals to get stuck and no other technical malfunction in the car that could have caused the incident.
According to a witness who was next to the bank at the time of the crash, the vehicle had come along Raumatie, and just before the turn to the parking lot, about 10 meters before the wall, the car had not slowed to turn but continued straight through the bank's window.
“The situation was dangerous and it could had gone really bad. The incident took place in the middle of the day and people were moving. Fortunately, no one was in front of the bank's window at that time, nor was it inside the bank where the crash happened, ”says Suomala.
The police investigation into the suspected crime is almost complete, and the case will soon be moved to the prosecutor.