Pedal Sticks--Driver Survives 40-Foot Plunge
A woman was trapped for more than an hour Monday when her car plunged 40 feet into a small canyon across the street from her Hollywood Hills home and came to a precarious rest, nose-down against a small tree.
Interior decorator Barbara Pohlman, 55, said she was driving forward out of her garage in the 6100 block of Rockcliff Drive when the accelerator jammed, causing the vehicle to surge forward across the street and down a hillside, trapping her behind the wheel.
Firefighters attached ropes to keep the car from tipping over, pried out the windshield and pulled her to safety.
Later, while awaiting transport to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital for a checkup, her springer spaniel, Lawrence, came around for a reassuring nuzzle and got a smile.
But there was no reassurance for the offending automobile.
“That car,” she told firefighters as she was put in an ambulance, “You can have it.”
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