http://www.komotv.com/news/printstory.asp?id=39384

Woman Crashes Car Into Swimming Pool

September 23, 2005

By KOMO Staff


BELLEVUE - A test drive in a car ended with a big splash and a daring
rescue in Bellevue Friday morning, after a woman somehow drove the car
into a swimming pool.

Police say it was just before 8 a.m. when 911 dispatchers began
receiving calls that car had driven into the community pool at the
Racquet Club Estates in northern Bellevue.

When police and firefighters arrived, they found the 20-year-old
driver was still trapped inside the car. Firefighters dove into the
water and broke the car's sunroof and rear window with their fire axes
and pulled the woman to safety.

Police say it all began when the woman was interested in buying a car
from a friend and went to take a test drive. But when she started the
car, she somehow mistook the gas for the brake. The car jumped a curb
and bolted out of the parking lot. It drove over a phone utility box,
glanced off a tree, then crashed through an 8-foot fence and into the
pool.

The woman was unable to figure out how to open the car windows to
escape and was trapped in the sinking car. A resident of the complex
had attempted to rescue the woman by breaking a window with a baseball
bat, but was unsuccessful.

Redmond firefighters, who were the first on the scene, got on top of
the car as it was sinking and broke out the sunroof and rear window
with their fire axes and pulled the woman out through the sunroof.

Witnesses say the woman’s shrinking air pocket as about 8” when she
was pulled to safety.

The woman was taken to Overlake Medical Center for possible
hypothermia, as it was chilly outside and the pool was unheated.

The woman only had a learner's permit, but no charges will be filed
since she did not drive on a public roadway.

The car was uninsured.

© 2005 KOMO