Drive hits wrong pedal, sending car crashing into convenience store

TILTON — A motorist who mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake caused a car to crash into the Irving gas station near Exit 20.

The driver was parking the car in front of the entrance to the building when the accident occurred shortly after 12:45 p.m. Monday, at the filling station and convenience store located at 90 Laconia Road (Route 3), according to Tilton Police Chief Robert Cormier.

“She thought she hit the brake,” the chief said.

The car jumped the curb, crashed through the glass doors, and lurched several feet into the store, barely missing an ATM machine, and pushing aside a display fixture of soft drinks.

No one was injured, Cormier said. The only person inside the store at the time was the clerk, he added.

The chief said no charges are being contemplated against the driver. The investigation into the accident was continuing.

The car received minimal damage, but the extent of damage to the building still needed to be determined, Cormer said.

The leading causes of such crashes are operator error and pedal error, which account for 30 percent and 26 percent of these crashes, respectively, according to Rob Reiter and Mark Wright, founders of storefrontsafety.org which studies vehicle crashes into buildings.