[unimaginative2]

Terrible parker in viral video charged
Lesley Ciarula Taylor Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
Published 59 minutes ago


Just a few hours after a YouTube video went viral of a BMW SUV driving up and over two parked cars, a Richmond Hill woman has been charged.

York Regional Police charged Tripta Kaushal, 62, on Wednesday with failing to remain at the scene of an accident. She is to appear in court Dec. 1.

The video has been picked up on websites around the world and been declared one of the world's worst parking jobs.

The driver of the BMW SUV X5 in the Extreme Fitness lot pulled into a space and kept going, up and over two parked cars. One of them belongs to Todd Jamison, systems administrator at the gym, whose voice shook Wednesday when he described how his car was destroyed. The other reportedly was a rental car.

"It sort of sucks," he said. The rogue mini-van backed off Jamison's 2004 Hyundai Elantra and another car, then stopped, paused, backed out of the space and drove slowly out of the lot. The footage, which aired locally on CP24, can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do6pmYfNco0.

York Regional Police had been looking for the hit-and-run driver since the demolition derby Oct. 22.

The damage to Jamison's car was "quite extensive," said York Const. Marina Orlovski and the SUV probably damaged its undercarriage.

Jamison and police had few leads. The surveillance camera at the lot on Yonge Street in Thornhill failed to pick up the licence plate or clearly show the driver or passengers. But Jamison recognized the minivan, said Orlovski.

"You certainly don't see that everyday."

 

[Jonny5]

Terrible parker in viral video charged
Lesley Ciarula Taylor Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
Published 59 minutes ago


Just a few hours after a YouTube video went viral of a BMW SUV driving up and over two parked cars, a Richmond Hill woman has been charged.

York Regional Police charged Tripta Kaushal, 62, on Wednesday with failing to remain at the scene of an accident. She is to appear in court Dec. 1.

The video has been picked up on websites around the world and been declared one of the world's worst parking jobs.

The driver of the BMW SUV X5 in the Extreme Fitness lot pulled into a space and kept going, up and over two parked cars. One of them belongs to Todd Jamison, systems administrator at the gym, whose voice shook Wednesday when he described how his car was destroyed. The other reportedly was a rental car.

"It sort of sucks," he said. The rogue mini-van backed off Jamison's 2004 Hyundai Elantra and another car, then stopped, paused, backed out of the space and drove slowly out of the lot. The footage, which aired locally on CP24, can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do6pmYfNco0.

York Regional Police had been looking for the hit-and-run driver since the demolition derby Oct. 22.

The damage to Jamison's car was "quite extensive," said York Const. Marina Orlovski and the SUV probably damaged its undercarriage.

Jamison and police had few leads. The surveillance camera at the lot on Yonge Street in Thornhill failed to pick up the licence plate or clearly show the driver or passengers. But Jamison recognized the minivan, said Orlovski.

"You certainly don't see that everyday."

Whoa whoa whoa... let me get this straight...

Jamison works at the gym
His car in the gym's parking lot
Police get a video tape of the parking lot for the gym where Jamison works
Police have no leads and can't figure out who was driving this van that destroyed Jamisons car parked at the gym where he works
...a week goes by and "Jamison and police had few leads"...
Somehow this video survaillance gets leaked
Jamison, who works at the gym where this survaillance was taken, and has apparently never seen it up to this point, "recognized the minivan"...

Brilliant police work.

Why the f*** wasn't he shown the video as soon as this happened? No one thought someone at the gym would recognize the car?

Or is it more likely this story is just very poorly written?

 

[EnviroTO]

It is poorly written. Jamison was in the original news segment showing the video to people in his office who couldn't believe it.

 

[Observer Walt]

I think the story is poorly written, based on what I heard today on the radio (640). As I understood it, Jamison did not recognize the car (not a van!), but had access to the video. Once the video "went viral", I would imagine (guessing, but reasonable) that someone else recognized it and called in. Especially given that the vehicle would have probably suffered some serious damage which might have been difficult to conceal.

 

[PukeGreen]

Okay, what's with people just DRIVING AWAY after major accidents? Can we have some sort of annoying public service campaign and some extra steep fines or something to drill into people's heads that for a serious accident (injury or vehicle damage) it is NEVER acceptable to just drive off?

 

[andomano]

I'd hardly call this a major accident. Nobody was injured, and there was likely less than 5,000 dollars in damages done. Of course I'm not saying this person's actions were just.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

When you run OVER another car - that's a MAJOR accident.
It's great no one was hurt but that's really beside the point.
If she nudged the car beside her and dented it and ran off, that would be bad (and illegal). But she ran OVER the car like it was a monster truck rally! Two, in fact!

And I can almost understand the fight-or-flight reflex but she barely hestitates before hitailing it out of there. If she goes to the gym even semi-regularly she should have doen the smart thing and turned herself in before getting nabbed.

 

[andomano]

When you run OVER another car - that's a MAJOR accident.

Then what would you call a multi-car pile-up on the 401? A HUMONGOUS accident?

Thanks to the viral video, this story seems to have been blown way out of proportion.

I'll take a 62 year old woman hitting the gas instead of a brake and damaging two empty vehicles in a minor accident over any traffic fatalities.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Then what would you call a multi-car pile-up on the 401? A HUMONGOUS accident?

Yes

I'm not quite sure what to think of this. I wouldn't quite call it a HUGE incident, but it's more than a little dent. It's random and abrupt too, making it excellent Youtube material. Dramatic? No. Should the driver have reported it? Absolutely! Is it anywhere close to as bad as if someone was injured? Of course not!
The driver should be fined (for fleeing the scene) and pay repair fees just as if the cars got a little nick. Of course, we might want to review their driving record and/or license, but I don't get what the big deal is about it. It's funny, that's it.

 

[nfitz]

I'll take a 62 year old woman hitting the gas instead of a brake and damaging two empty vehicles in a minor accident over any traffic fatalities.

Denting a side panel while parking is a minor accident. While there were no injuries, I certainly wouldn't classify this as a minor accident. And that somone would drive away ... well I hope there licence is lifted for a few decades.

 

[rbt]

I'd hardly call this a major accident. Nobody was injured, and there was likely less than 5,000 dollars in damages done. Of course I'm not saying this person's actions were just.

She went through the windshield of another vehicle and didn't bother to check inside the vehicle to see if anybody was hurt. No, you cannot adequately see inside another vehicle with a shattered windshield from her vantage point.

I'd say that the charge is entirely justified.

 

[Transportfan]

Is failing to remain at the scene an HTA violation or a criminal offence? It was on private property.

 

[lead82]

Good question. Not sure about that one.

My concern was that each of these incidents are called accidents. It is not an accident but rather a car crash. Crashes are caused by distracted and inattentive drivers. We don't know in this situation why she hit the gas instead of the brakes. Maybe she got a cell phone call, or was already on a call?

While she did not mean to crush 2 cars while parking, she did, and it was her fault that she did so, and thus is not an accident.

I agree that there should be steep fines for failing to remain, but a question, is failing to remain a criminal charge or a HTA charge?

 

[andomano]

rbt: I was not refuting the point that the charge was not justified. I was merely trying to convey that I do not believe this to be a 'major' or 'serious' accident.

 

[nfitz]

My concern was that each of these incidents are called accidents. It is not an accident but rather a car crash.

If your going to be pedantic, you could at least be correct. A simple look at a dictionary (in this case, the Canadian Oxford) shows 5 meanings for the word "accident". Number 3 is simply "an automobile collision or crash".

By definition then, any automobile collision or crash is an accident; you appear to be confusing different definitions of the word accident; and it's very clear in this case which meaning is being used (by everyone else!).