A 63-year-old woman died after her own car struck her in a parking lot at an apartment community in South Carolina.
On the evening of Wednesday, June 10, Margaret McWeeney is believed to have stepped out of her vehicle without realizing she had left the transmission in reverse in the parking lot of Madison Ridge Apartments in Indian Lake, Lancaster County Coroner Karla Deese said in a statement.
As the vehicle began rolling backward, McWeeney attempted to climb back inside to regain control. Instead, she accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, causing the car to accelerate in reverse and strike both her and nearby vehicles before coming to a stop. Deputy Coroner Joey Edwards responded to the scene, where McWeeney was pronounced dead, officials said.
An investigation remains ongoing.
A 2008 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that an estimated 292 backover fatalities occur each year. Most of these incidents happen “when a driver reverses into and injures or kills a nonoccupant such as a pedestrian or a bicyclist,” the organization said.
“While people of all ages are victims of backovers,” the NHTSA continued, “this report confirmed that children under 5 years old and adults 70 and older have an elevated risk of being backover victims compared to the rest of the population.”