L-driver gets that sinking feeling
IT was the most unfortunate of emergency stops. A learner driver, on the eve of his test, careered off the road, rammed through a kitchen window and into a basement flat.
Proof that the individual was not yet ready to tear up his L-plates and take possession of a gleaming new driving licence was that, during the lesson, he had mistaken the accelerator for the brake.
The motorist was in the middle of a lesson in Aberdeen when he panicked, mixed up the pedals and rammed the Vauxhall Astra into metal railings before it hit the kitchen window of the flat, which is below street level.
Arran Christie, who lives in the flat, said yesterday that she was relieved the learner, who has not been named, would not be going ahead with his test.
She said: "The driver didn't say much to us. He just stood there dazed and confused. But the driving instructor came up and told us he was very sorry.
"He said the learner was supposed to sit his test next Monday. But that's been cancelled now because he crashed into our house. It's probably for the best."
The learner is from India and insisted he had been driving over there for ten years. He is now desperate to get his British driving licence and was out for a final lesson before his test. But he began to "stress out" when he almost hit a car on Springbank Terrace in Aberdeen.
The driver then went flying into the flat shared by Arran, 21, Shaun Peters, 20, and Ross Anderson, 26. Only Shaun and Ross were at home at the time, and had just finished cooking their dinner in the kitchen when they heard the racket.
Mr Peters said: "I was looking outside and saw some lights outside, then [heard] an almighty thud. It sounded like the end of the world."
The impact of the crash sent some of the metal railings flying through the window of the flat, while glass was scattered all over the place. Mr Peters and Mr Anderson were forced to flee. The driver was taken away in an ambulance, but was not thought to be seriously hurt.
Mr Peters said: "He was pretty shaken up. We all were."
Ms Christie added: "It definitely makes you think. If one of us had been standing at the sink then we probably would have been killed."
Police are now looking into the incident. A spokesman for Grampian Police said: "A learner driver was injured in an accident. It would appear that the vehicle did travel towards a house. Inquiries are ongoing."
The unfortunate learner driver can, however, take comfort that others have endured embarrassing mishaps during lessons. In March, a Philippine plane with 80 passengers aboard nearly crashed when a man teaching his girlfriend to drive sped across the runway just as the aircraft landed.
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