No Problems Found in Balboa Crash Car

No mechanical problems were found in a car that lurched into a crowd waiting for the Balboa Island ferry, injuring 13 people, police said Tuesday.

The car, driven by 87-year-old Mary Anne Nash of Newport Beach, accelerated out of line Monday as she waited to board a ferry from Balboa Island.

Nash’s 1997 Volvo had “no indication that there was a mechanical problem” and there was no evidence that she had been using drugs or alcohol, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said. The driver could be cited and will need a state Department of Motor Vehicles examination to retain her driver’s license, he said. Nash was not injured in the crash.

A 14-year-old girl from Las Vegas, whose name was not released, remains hospitalized at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for a compound leg fracture. Kathleen Bingley, 44, of Orange was reported in stable condition at the hospital with internal injuries.

Nash was second in a line of cars for a ferry that was docking. She told police that when she restarted her car, it lurched forward. Police said the car swerved and traveled about 75 feet along a sidewalk, hitting pedestrians, newspaper racks and waste cans.