An elderly woman driver who cannonballed though a brick wall and into a neighbour's swimming pool was saved from drowning by friends and the police.
Ruth White from Whittier, California, was pulling into her driveway when her foot slipped from the brake pedal onto the accelerator.
Her Ford Taurus shot forward, demolishing a high breezeblock wall separating her property from the neighbours', and plunged bonnet-first into a swimming pool.
Upon hearing the crash of falling masonry, White's neighbours rushed out to find the Taurus sinking fast. Despite their best efforts to open the doors, it would take the arrival of police officers some minutes later before the 79-year-old could be freed.
Paramedics rushed White to Hospital, where she is described as being in a stable condition.
Her rescuers turned their attention back to the submerged Taurus, and were observed drying banknotes on their kitchen tables later that afternoon.
Lee-Anne Bass, spokesperson for the first-class woman car insurance providers CoverGirl, said: "It may only have been caused by a slip of a foot, but Ms White's crash will have pretty major consequences in terms of future motor insurance quotes.
If she has to claim on her car insurance to pay for damage to her neighbours' wall and swimming pool, Ms White can expect to pay a considerably higher premium when she comes to renew her woman car insurance."