Customers and pedestrians fled for their lives as an elderly American tourist smashed his car through the front window of one of Rotorua's Subway outlets yesterday.
The man, who had flown into New Zealand with his wife at 5.30am yesterday, told police the accident happened whenhe confused the brake and accelerator pedals.
The couple had stopped outside Subway on Arawa St about 10.20am to ask for directions to the nearest bank.
Rotorua harbourmaster Andrew Lang, who was walking along Arawa St at the time, pointed them in the right direction. Seconds later, staff watched in horror as the 79-year-old driver mounted the footpath and smashed through the store's entrance, showering tables and chairs with shards of broken glass.
He then suddenly reversed his rented Mitsubishi Diamante out at speed, continued in a backwards U-turn, mounting the median strip, driving between a large tree and power pole in the middle of the road before coming to an abrupt stop on the corner outside Tandoori Palace Indian restaurant.
A female customer standing near the counter was forced to flee as manager Lionel Tuhiwai watched the drama unfold on a security camera from out the back. "It was amazing no one was hurt. If it had been lunchtime, he would have wiped out customers completely," he said. Mr Lang tried to stop the driver inside Subway by reaching inside his vehicle for the keys but not before the man started reversing, clipping the harbourmaster with the driver's side door on his way out.
"It's like something you see in the movies."'
St John paramedics treated the driver at the scene for a deep cut to his right hand.
His wife was not injured. The man has been forbidden to drive while Rotorua police consider whether to charge him with careless driving. It is understood the couple plan to leave Rotorua shortly to enjoy a cruise.
