There’s an interesting story in the Police Blotter section of the Shippensburg Sentinel today (Wednesday, August 24, 2005 — Page A2):
“Driver hit with own car cited for DUI
A Newville woman was charged with DUI after she was hit by her own vehicle.
State police in Carlisle say Meghan Renee Blake, 26, was drunk when she climbed into her 2003 Honda Accord at VFW Post 6070 just before 2 a.m. Friday on Greenspring Road in North Newton Township.
Blake allegedly took the vehicle out of park and went down a hill next to the VFW parking lot. Her front wheels were turned to the right. When the vehicle got to the bottom of the hill, it came back up the same hill, state police say.
Along the way, Blake fell out of the car and lay on the ground. She was struck by the vehicle and trapped underneath the front end, state police say.
She was freed by emergency rescue workers and taken to Carlisle Regional Medical Center for treatment, state police say.”
What does this tell us? First of all, the writer for this section isn’t exceptional at phrasing things neatly and not repeating phrases, though that could be gathered from the heading of the entry next to it, “Thrown Objects Cause Damage,” and doesn’t really relate to the story itself. Essentially, this woman got into her car, neglected to shut the door, and went driving off. She went down a hill, fell out, and the car went partway up the next hill before turning around and in a particularly vicious (if poetic) twist of the laws of physics, ran her over.
What do you think the odds are of her wanting to ever drink and drive again, now that she has been hit by a drunk driver? Particularly as that drunk driver was herself?