A man was kissing his girlfriend when he accidentally hit the accelerator, sending his car plunging 14 metres from the fifth floor of a carpark, a court has heard.
Simon Hartnoll, 39 at the time, had made plans to go ten pin bowling after enjoying a romantic dinner with his girlfriend in Newmarket, New Zealand, last year.
But his mistake in the heat of the moment, made worse by the fact he allegedly failed to put his car’s gear box in park, almost resulted in a double fatality.
A man was kissing his girlfriend when he accidentally hit the accelerator, sending his car plunging 14 metres from the fifth floor of a carpark (aftermath pictured)
The court heard the car had knocked over a concrete bollard and directly through a metal fence, free-falling for 13.9 metres
Hartnoll faced Auckland District Court on Monday charged with careless driving causing injury, Stuff reported.
The court heard the car had knocked over a concrete bollard and directly through a metal fence, free-falling for 13.9 metres before slamming into the concrete.
The car collided with another vehicle parked below, miraculously avoiding two female tourists who were sitting inside of it.
The girlfriend, who was 30 at the time, was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
She has no memory of the entire day and has lost her sense of smell and vision in her right eye as a result of the accident.
‘Everything is blank from the start of the day until I woke up in hospital,’ the woman said in an impact statement read out in court.
Hartnoll suffered a fractured spine, back and broken ribs as a result of the accident.
The girlfriend, who was 30 at the time, has no memory of the entire day and has lost her sense of smell and vision in her right eye
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