Jeep crashes into Burlington restaurant

By Michael D. Abernethy 
Times-News 

A Burlington restaurant was damaged Monday night, Jan. 1, when a Jeep crashed into the side of the building.

At 7:41 p.m., a Jeep driven by Earl Lee Garland, 66, 137 N. Ireland St., Burlington, drove from the McDonald’s parking lot at 1829 N. Church St., through bushes, into the east wall of Fresh Seafood Market, 1821 N. Church St.

Garland was trying to park at McDonald’s. According to the incident report by Burlington police, the Jeep traveled through a parking space, crashed into the Fresh Seafood Market, backed up, hit a fence and drove a second time into the restaurant’s exterior wall.

Garland was not injured. He didn’t appear impaired, but “did appear confused and may have cognitive issues,” the report by Burlington police officer C. Bisdee said. Garland allegedly told officers the vehicle ’would not stop,” but investigators didn’t immediately identify any mechanical issues with the accelerator or brake pedals.

The crash caused an estimated $15,000 in damage to the seafood restaurant, which was closed Tuesday. There wasn’t a sign on its door or a notice on the Fresh Seafood Market’s Facebook page about when it may reopen. Representatives for the business couldn’t be reached by phone Tuesday. The hole in the exterior wall showed damage to electrical equipment.

Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas declared the building safe for occupancy Monday night, said Burlington Capt. Brian Long.

Another $4,000 in estimated damage was done to McDonald’s property, the police report said.

Garland was not cited for any traffic violations.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/20180102/jeep-crashes-into-burlington-restaurant

Video: Car-wash chain won't clean older Jeep Cherokee models over sudden acceleration fears

MICHAEL ROBERTS

Update below: Sometimes it seems like every third Coloradan has an SUV -- and plenty of them are from the Jeep Cherokee family. But if your model of the latter was produced in 2010 or before and you want to give it a scrub, don't take it to one of six Waterway Carwashbranches in the metro area -- because the staff there won't lay a brush on it, no matter how much folding green is in your pocket.

Why not? Persistent problems with sudden acceleration, say company representatives. Get details and see photos and videos below.

The story comes to us from 9News, which received reports that owners of older model Jeep Cherokees [and Grand Cherokees -- see update below] were being turned away from local Waterways, including the popular affiliate in Cherry Creek. And sure enough, the company confirms that as of March 1, such vehicles are being pointed back to the street.

The Waterway branch in Cherry Creek.

"Waterway has experienced an unacceptable number of dangerous and costly accidents involving pre-2011 Jeep Cherokees," reads a statement provided to 9News. "At Waterway, employee and customer safety is our chief concern. Therefore we have made the decision to stop washing these vehicles."

This is not a new issue. Way back in 2006, the International Carwash Association issued an advisory on Jeep Cherokee models based on sudden-acceleration reports. The document doesn't recommend banning such vehicles, but it does list five procedures to be employed when they're being cleaned for safety reasons:

1. Handle Jeep Cherokees and Jeep Grand Cherokees with extreme caution 2. Allow only specially trained car wash employees to handle these vehicles 3. Notify all car wash employees when one of these vehicles is on the property 4. Move the vehicle using both feet - left foot on the brake and right foot on the accelerator 5. Instruct employees and customers to never walk in front of one of these vehicles

Over the years that followed, reports about sudden acceleration involving Cherokees and Grand Cherokees continued to circulate. A YouTube video posted three years ago and shared below includes a reference to the International Carwash Association advisory and footage of a Jeep cruising through a car wash all by itself.

Here's the video. The car-wash sequence takes place around the thirty-second mark.

VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE 

Online forums are also crowded with references to the alleged problem -- and this one features several from Colorado.

Continue for more about Jeep Cherokees and sudden acceleration.

A clip from the Jeep sudden-acceleration video.

Here's a post from a driver in La Junta....

i put my 2004 jeep grand cherokee laredo into drive and it suddenly accelerated as witness said like a rocket. i was unable to stop it, hitting fences, gas meter and resting in someones living room. major damage. lucky no one was killed. i just bought the car about 2 weeks ago. i was given a ticket but not arrested yet. still under investigation. car has been impounded, state police removed the black box and my insurance agent was refused access to the jeep

jeep totaled, fence totaled, gas meter busted, house major damage. no injuries.

...and this one from a Denver driver is even more on-point when it comes to car washes:

I took my 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee to a carwash. As the employee turned the car on to bring it out of the wash and put it in drive, the car accelerated by itself and he dodged people, cars and cleaning materials for 10 seconds before the brakes would work again. We filed a police incident report and my car is at the dealership right now. I will not be driving it again as it is a danger and obviously a lemon.

At the time 9News published its item about sudden acceleration, representatives from Jeep's parent company, Chrysler Group LLC, had not yet responded to questions.

Meanwhile, a dirty Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee made more than three years old isn't Waterway's problem anymore.

Update: Just received a note from a reader who's spent more than two decades in the automobile industry. . She notes that "there is a distinction between the Jeep Cherokee and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. While built off the same platform, they are two distinct models. Production for the Cherokee stopped with model year 2001. Therefore, your comment Jeep Cherokees made on/before 2010 may be confusing to the general population and is incorrect."

She adds that "the Grand Cherokee is still in production," but the advisory includes "both models, not just the Cherokee."

One more thing: "While I will continue using Waterway for my primary vehicle, I'll still lovingly handwash and detail my beloved Cherokee myself."

http://www.westword.com/news/linda-crnic-institute-uncovers-a-game-changing-discovery-in-down-syndrome-9845183

2007 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE OWNER COMMENTS

#1  Grand Cherokee V6

Automatic transmission 70,000 miles

Mar 28 2015

sudden acceleration car lunged & down embankment

Report date April 1, 2015

Margaret Stuart

2007 Grand Cherokee Jeep

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Jeep/Grand_Cherokee/2007/engine/unintended_acceleration.shtml#1

-------------------------------------------------------------------

sudden acceleration car lunged & down embankment Report date April 1, 2015 Margaret Stuart 2007 Grand Cherokee Jeep

In January 2007, I purchased a new 2007 Grand Cherokee Jeep, Vin #1J8GR48K77C565297. On March 18, 2015, while in my garage, I put the Jeep in reverse. It suddenly accelerated/screeched on it's own. It flew out of my garage almost hitting trees in the yard. I was able to stop the Jeep by braking. I told husband about this incident. We decided we would take the Jeep in for a checkup soon to see why this had happened. I have always been a Jeep owner, owned many, and take good care of my vehicles, This Jeep, although a 2007, is in pristine condition and was always checked periodically.

On March 28, 2015, after driving from the CA mountains to AZ just turned 70,000 miles on trip. About 5 pm, I was at my son Ryan Stuart's home. I backed jeep into his driveway to release trailor and its goods I was transferring to him. Turned engine off stayed for about 10 minutes and then left. I turned ignition on and put into drive never touched gas pedal. The Jeep quickly accelerated/screeched forward, out the driveway, across the street, and toward the neighbor's home. I was shocked and totally caught off guard. I immediately steered the Jeep as quickly as I could away from the house and 2 cars in the driveway. The jeep keep accelerating down an embankment towards the next home. My Jeep flipped over doing a 360 degree and landed on the passenger side. I was up in the air as seat belt held me down. My son, Ryan Stuart, witnessed this whole incident and ran to my aid as did other neighbors. The seat belt on my chest was causing me trouble breathing. Ryan tried to alleviate my pain by pulling it away from chest.

I do not remember police, fire fighters, or an ambulance taking me to the hospital. When I woke up, my husband William Stuart and son Ryan Stuart were with me at hospital. Within one hour of my jeep turning 70,000 miles I was in the ER and my jeep upside down totalled.

The ER Dr. said I had a concussion. No neuro doctors were on duty that night at the hospital. I was advised I could be taken to a Las Vegas hospital by ambulance to see Neuro doctor or go home with my husband if he checked my eyes every hour. I elected to go home even though my whole body and head hurt. I had follow-up care with my own physician. My whole body still hurts, especially my head, neck, and back. Saw Neuro doctor 3 weeks after crash and said post concussion syndrome with PTSD. My problems were mainly with thinking, memory, speech. I decided to get proper care at Boulder Neurological Center in Boulder, CO where I use to live and work. As of this writing, I am also extremely upset thinking how close I came to being killed in this accident. I tried to get help from the legal community no one wanted to touch as I was told by Phoenix attorney firm "if I had been impaired for rest of my life his firm would have taken case." I have read other horrible incidents involving "SUDDEN ACCELERATION" in Grand Cherokee Jeep and people have died. I can tell you emphatically that there was no driver error. I reported this to NHTSA as well as Consumer Affairs so someone will do something before there is an entire family dead due to sudden acceleration. It is real and I have worked for Federal Courts for over 20 years and can tell you emphatically "NO driver error"!!

Margaret Stuart

Copyright © 2000—2017

"Autobeef", "What's Wrong With YOUR Car?" & "The Truth About Cars" are trademarks of Autobeef LLC, All rights reserved.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Update from Aug 6, 2015

The airbags did not deploy even after going down embankment and flipping over doing 360 and landing on passenger side of jeep.

Update from Jan 23, 2017

Air Bags never deployed during the car crash on March 28, 2015. Jeep went down embankment and flipped over 360 degrees. Did not remember if entered this information in my complaint due to brain injury. Margaret Stuart

- Maggie S., Lake Havasu City, AZ, US

Copyright © 2000—2017

"Autobeef", "What's Wrong With YOUR Car?" & "The Truth About Cars" are trademarks of Autobeef LLC, All rights reserved.

Jeep Cherokee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Cherokee

--------------------

1st-gen:   1974–1983

2nd-gen:  1984–2001 (USA)

3rd-gen:   2002–2007

4th-gen:   2008-2013

5th-gen:   2014 – present

=============

 

Jeep Grand Cherokee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Grand_Cherokee

-----------------------------

1st-gen:   1993–1998

2nd-gen:  1999–2004

3rd-gen:   2005–2010

4th-gen:   2011–present

Auto advocacy group calls for expanded probe into Jeep fuel tank safety, Toyota Air Bag Recalls

Auto advocacy group calls for expanded probe into Jeep fuel tank safety

Jeep Cherokees on car lot.

March 3, 2016

The Center for Auto Safety, has asked the NHTSA to reopen their investigation of fuel tank ruptures and fires in some older models of Jeeps after contending that more modifications are needed. The group, founded in 1970 by consumer activist Ralph Nader cited several accidents, including one last April in which Fiat Chrysler was ordered to pay $150 million to the family of a 4-year-old boy who burned to death in a crash after a jury found the automaker was “reckless in its design” of the gas tank for the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the Jeep models as far back as 2010, when it found that the location of the plastic fuel tanks behind the rear axle made them more vulnerable to breaking in crashes, leading to fires. Although Fiat Chrysler insisted that the vehicles were comparable to other vehicles, they began recalling some 1.56 million 1993-2004 Grand Cherokees and 2002-2007 Libertys in 2013 to add trailer hitches to the rear of the vehicles to further protect the gas tanks. The recall is still ongoing. In fact, a letter sent to the federal regulators, dated February 2016, by the Center for Auto Safety noted that 14 more people were killed in crashes in “which fire was the most harmful event.”

The NHTSA has begun putting more pressure on automakers to more quickly disclose defects and finish recalls. In the meantime, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. announced yesterday that it was adding approximately 198,000 Model Year 2008 Corolla and Corolla Matrix and Model Year 2008-2010 Lexus SC430 vehicles to its recall list. As a precautionary measure to cover dual-stage front passenger airbags found to be susceptible to rupture during collisions. For more information, consumers can call Toyota Customer Service at 1-800-331-4331, or Lexus Customer Service at 1-800-255-3987, as well as visit the NHTSA online at nhtsa.gov.

• http://www.examiner.com/article/auto-advocacy-group-calls-for-expanded-probe-into-jeep-fuel-tank-safety

Jumpin' Jeeps are hard to tie down

14 years of complaints about unintended acceleration go nowhere

General Motors is currently in the hot seat over charges that it should have acted sooner to replace defective ignition switches. But some chronic automobile safety problems never seem to capture the attention of consumers and safety regulators.

By James R. Hood

ConsumerAffairs' founder and former editor, Jim Hood formerly headed Associated Press Broadcast News, directing coverage of major news events worldwide. He also served as Senior Vice President of United Press International and was the founder and editor of Zapnews, a newswire service for radio and television.  Read Full 

Take the "Jumpin' Jeep" complaints that have been filling our in-box since at least 2000. The general theme is that a Jeep Grand Cherokee takes off at high speed seconds after being started and put into gear.

Last October, a 15-year-old girl was killed in Yonkers, N.Y., when a 2000 Grand Cherokee plowed into a crowd attending a street fair. A police report attributed the accident to brake failure rather than unintended acceleration, USA Today reported. In 2006, a Connecticut man was killed when a Grand Cherokee suddenly accelerated at a car wash. In both cases, the Jeeps took off seconds after they were started and shifted into gear.

Car wash owners, in fact, have grown to be especially wary of the popular SUVs.

"My family has owned and operated automatic car washes for nearly 50 years. Over the past 10 years, we have had half a dozen incidents with Jeep Grand Cherokees accelerating out of control," a Pennsylvania car wash owner said in a 2011 ConsumerAffairs posting. "Every time it has happened, our employees have maintained that the vehicle took off on them and they could not stop it. The first few times it happened, we assumed it was driver error but not anymore."

Driveway mishap

Consumers rate Jeep

The most recent report comes from Sandra of Waltham, Mass. She was moving her 2006 Grand Cherokee from the street in front of her house into her driveway a few nights ago.

"I started up the Jeep and had my foot on the brake, then put it into Drive. I kept my foot on the brake while it glided forward about 10 feet past our driveway, then I pushed down more on the brake to stop. I never touched the gas pedal ... no need to, it just idled forward," she said.

"Next I put the Jeep into Reverse, still holding down the brake. ... That’s when this Jeep just roared and peeled out going backwards. ... I could not stop the Jeep. Believe me, I was standing on this brake pedal. I had adjusted my foot to be sure I was on the brake and it would not stop at all," Sandra said.

She hit 3 other vehicles, knocked down a fence and ended up in a neighbor's yard, also damaging their parked vehicle.

"I never heard of sudden acceleration," Sandra said. "That evening I was looking on the Internet ... and couldn’t believe how many other stories sound just like mine," she said.

Attention but no action

There's been a lot of talk about the situation over the years -- much more than about the GM ignition-switch problems -- but so far, talk is all there's been. 

Chrysler has denied the problem exists and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found no smoking gun, although it should be noted that in its public statements, NHTSA tends to lump all unintended acceleration crashes together, treating them as a single problem, the notable exception being the massive Toyota recalls of a few years ago.

NHTSA has estimated that there are at least 15 "pedal misapplication" crashes in the United States every month. It has said that drivers in almost two-thirds of the crashes are women and the crashes most often occur in parking lots. It said drivers involved in the crashes tend to be shorter.

Critics say that dodges the question of whether there's a specific problem with the Grand Cherokee.

"More than simple coincidence"

Back in 2006, Richard Blumenthal -- who was then Connecticut Attorney General and is now a U.S. Senator -- urged federal regulators to look into the problem and asked Chrysler to release any information it might have collected.

"The rate and severity of these sudden acceleration incidents suggest a severe structural flaw -- certainly more than simple coincidence," Blumenthal said at the time. "These incidents -- in one case killing a Connecticut man -- call for aggressive and vigorous action to prevent another needless, preventable tragedy."

More recently, Chrysler said there are "few motor vehicle defect allegations that have been more exhaustively investigated or more thoroughly refuted than claims of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA)."

"Comprehensive studies by safety regulators at the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Japan’s Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada, plus dozens of independent analyses all reached the same conclusion: these incidents are caused by driver error, specifically drivers who believe they are applying the brakes when they are actually pressing the accelerator," Chrysler's Michael Palese told ConsumerAffairs last November."No study has ever identified any specific defect in any vehicle that would cause sudden, unintended acceleration." 

That explanation doesn't fly with Sandra.

"I know this is a real problem," she said. "The accidents are mostly in driveways or parking lots, and car washes, [and] it seems to happen when we first start up and shift the Jeeps. I wonder how Chrysler is getting away with this."

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/jumpin-jeeps-are-hard-to-tie-down-040714.html

Runaway Jeep from car wash rumbles across 101

SHARE

By James Lanaras

BAY CITY NEWS

PUBLISHED

August 3, 2015

1:11 pm

The California Highway Patrol is investigating a Greenbrae car wash employee’s claim that a Jeep suddenly accelerated at the car wash and crossed lanes of U.S. Highway 101 traffic Saturday afternoon.

Juan DeLeon, 52, of San Rafael, told the CHP the 1999 Jeep Cherokee was in neutral as required at the Lucky Drive Brushless Car Wash in Greenbrae when it accelerated around 4:20 p.m. Saturday, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said.

The Jeep traveled over a sidewalk, across three lanes of the Redwood Highway Frontage Road, through an unoccupied bus stop shelter, across five lanes of northbound Highway 101, through a center divide and across two lanes of southbound Highway 101 before it stopped without hitting any vehicles, Barclay said.

The crash tore out approximately 150 feet of metal guardrail in the center divide and left debris in the fast lanes of both the northbound and southbound sides of the highway, Barclay said.

DeLeon said he tried to apply the brakes but the Jeep kept accelerating. The CHP held the Jeep for inspection, Barclay said.

The car wash management said because it has had problems in the past with that make and model of Jeep, employees sit inside as the vehicle moves through the car wash, Barclay said:

“Even if he inadvertently hit the gas, he went a very long distance and hit a lot of things.”

DeLeon did not have any health issues, and there is enough credence to his story for the CHP to look into what else could have gone wrong, the officer said.

http://sfbay.ca/2015/08/03/runaway-jeep-from-car-wash-rumbles-across-101/

Where's NHTSA?

The National Car Wash Association knows which cars are prone to SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION and circulates the LIST to protect employees....

Consumers don't know...you can't get that information to avoid purchasing these vehicles and jeopardizing the safety of your family.

Why aren't these vehicles being recalled to protect the public?

Where is NHTSA?

Consumers are not being protected by NHTSA!



Woman's newly cleaned car flies onto three at dealer

image: http://media.philly.com/images/ardmorecrash.jpg

Investigation underway into an unusual crash at a car dealership in Ardmore. NDN

John Moritz, Inquirer Staff Writer

 
   Posted: Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 5:41 PM

 

It's easier to sell a new Acura when there isn't a used Jeep crashed on top of it.

An Ardmore car dealership learned that the hard way Tuesday morning, after a customer leaving an adjacent car wash accelerated into a ramp-like snow embankment several feet high and landed atop three cars in the dealer's lot.

Police and witnesses said the driver, a 74-year-old woman, had just had her white Jeep Grand Cherokee washed at Arrow Car Wash on Lancaster Avenue around 9 a.m. when the car sped into a guardrail, over the embankment, and onto the cars at Piazza Acura of Ardmore.

Images from the Fox29 helicopter show responders standing on top of crushed metal inspecting the Jeep, still gleaming from its fresh wash.

"That's one of the pictures you see on the Internet and say, 'How did you do that?' " said an employee at the car wash who asked that his name not be used.

No one was in the parked cars at the time, and no bystanders were hurt, said John Tucci, patrol sergeant for the Lower Merion Police Department. The woman reported no injuries but was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, where she later reported soreness, Tucci said.

Tucci said the woman told police that her car "took off" into the piled-up snow. No drugs or alcohol were involved, he said, and police do not suspect a "mental episode."

Randy Bridegam, general manager of Piazza Acura, said the accident caused about $80,000 in damage to three Acuras, two of which - a new RDX and a 2005 TSX - were most likely totaled.

"It was quite a noise," Bridegam said.

The car wash employee said the woman appeared to have trouble following directions from workers trying to guide her through the wash tunnel just before the crash. He said he did not recognize the woman as a regular customer.

The accident was not the first involving a customer leaving the car wash, the employee said. At least twice in the last two years, customers hit the accelerator instead of the brake on their way out, he said. But he said he had never seen one car end up on top of another.

Tucci did not release the woman's name and said the department would not test the vehicle's mechanics.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150225_Woman_exits_car_wash_onto_three_parked_cars.html#KH0XgetddX0X4p0D.99

Car Wash Association Put Out Warning on Jeeps - See first entry below.

JEEP CHEROKEE WARNING SHEET-Benny's Car Wash

www.bennyscarwash.com/welcome/jeepwarning

· Jeep Cherokee Warning ... Jeep Cherokee & Grand Jeep Cherokee Customers ... accelerates quickly and sometimes uncontrollably upon exiting the carwash ...

· Car washes unfairly target Jeeps as dangerous - Autoblog

www.autoblog.com/.../car-washes-unfairly-target-jeeps-as-...

· Autoblog.com

Aug 8, 2006 - Vines then turns the mirror towards the car wash industry itself, ..... than 400 complaints about Jeep Cherokees accelerating without warning.

· Jeep Recalls - ConsumerAffairs.com

www.consumeraffairs.com/jeep-recalls

· Chrysler is recalling 313,236 model year 2011-2013 Jeep Wrangler vehicles ... man was run over and killed by a Grand Cherokee in a Connecticut car wash ... Texas, Joanna said her 2006 Jeep Commander stalls without warning during turns ...

· Jeep Grand Cherokee Sudden Acceleration (Not Just ...

▶ 1:41

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEv1ne4dwDA

· Jan 29, 2010 - Uploaded by dodgechryslersucks

Chrysler's Sudden Unintended Acceleration problem was so bad that the International Carwash Association ...

· Jeep's a comin' through! - Professional Carwashing and ...

www.carwash.com/articles/jeep-s-a-comin-through-2

· Oct 11, 2010 - Strong measures to be sure, but given the reputation — earned or not — which those Jeep models have in the industry, the is a first ...

· Car Wash | Rothrock Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram | Allentown ...

rothrock.com/Car-Wash.aspx

· ... vehicle in to the Reconditioning Department at Rothrock in Allentown for a car wash. ... seats, clean and dress door panels and dashboard, clean trunk area.

· [PDF]2013 Jeep Wrangler User's Guide

www.jeep.com/download/pdf/ug/2013-Wrangler-UG-4th.pdf

· Jeep

Low Fuel Warning Light ... be warned not to touch the parking brake, brake pedal, or the shift lever. ..... Do not run a fabric top through an automatic car wash.

· Jeeps banned from carwash chain for 'safety issues' | Video ...

www.wbir.com/.../Jeeps-banned-from-carwash-chain-for-safet...

Boy suffers head injury, 3 others injured in accident at Monrovia car wash


By Ruby Gonzales, San Gabriel Valley Tribune

and Zen Vuong, Pasadena Star-News

 

Posted: 02/13/15

Five people, including a 10-year-old boy was injured when a driver lost control of his Toyota Camry as he exited the Fast 5 Express Carwash in Monrovia on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. The Camry initially struck a vehicle that was parked and being vacuumed, pushing it into a 10-year-old boy who was standing on the opposite side. The child fell to the ground, striking his head, and was taken to a hospital for treatment, said Monrovia police Lt. Nick Manfredi. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/ Pasadena Star-News)

MONROVIA — A 10-year-old boy suffered a head injury and four other people were hurt Friday when a driver leaving a self-serve carwash lost control of his car and stuck four other vehicles, police said.

The accident occurred around 3:40 p.m. at Fast5XPress Car Wash in Monrovia at 935 Huntington Drive.

Monrovia Police Lt. Nick Manfredi said the driver of a Toyota Camry lost control before his car struck a parked vehicle that was being vacuumed. The impact caused one of the cars to move, striking a 10-year-old boy standing on the other side.

“The boy fell to the ground and received a head injury,” Manfredi said.

The Camry continued to accelerate and then hit another vehicle in the process of being dried by a woman, Manfredi said. She suffered an arm injury and was transported to a hospital.

Monrovia police Officer Jim Mead said the injured boy was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. He didn’t know the boy’s condition. Three out of the five cars damaged had to be towed away while two others were able to be driven.

Store manager Erik Martin said in the nine months since the self-serve carwash has been open, it has processed more than 100,000 cars without an accident. This was the first time his staff had to clean two spots of blood off of the asphalt.

“You could tell (the driver) was kind of shocked at what happened,” Martin said. “You would think after he hit the first vehicle that that would’ve been it. Just take your foot off all pedals, but I can’t answer for him.”

The driver at the front end of the chain reaction said he believes his brakes gave out.

“I see the Go symbol (in the carwash) and I put it on ‘D’ and go slowly, slowly,” said the Camry’s driver Jagdish Rajgor. “I made a right turn and my brakes weren’t working.”

When Rajgor exited the carwash tunnel, he hit the back of a truck and caused it to fall into landscaping by the sidewalk. Then he hit a Honda Civic, Martin said. The boy was helping wipe down the Civic, so he flew upon impact. The Civic hit another car, and the Camry kept going. It collided with a white Toyota Rav 4, which hit an elderly lady who was wiping down her car. The lady fell to the ground, Martin said.

Advertisement

Rajgor’s two sons, 8 and 3, were in the car with him, he said.

Manfredi said Rajgor had a minor nose injury and a child sitting in the back seat complained of pain.

They weren’t hospitalized.

A girl who was in the car being vacuumed didn’t have any visible injuries, Manfredi said. He said she was shaken up and also was transported to the hospital for observation.