By MARVIN HAMLETT
Editor
Nobody was seriously injured Saturday morning in a fluke accident that left two cars double-stacked in the Appomattox McDonalds drive-thru line.
In a scene that looked like a bad hamburger commercial, one car crashed hard in reverse into another car at the drive-thru window, sending the first car up on two wheels and on top of the second car.
A third car behind the two also sustained minor damage.
Virginia State Trooper Morgan Croft said the cause of the crash was due to a “medical emergency.”
According to Croft, Mary Collins, 83, of Lynchburg was parked in front of the McDonalds near the flagpole, when she began to back out of her parking space.
“She put it in reverse, and got disoriented,” Trooper Croft said.
Collins apparently stomped the accelerator instead of the brake as she slammed into a curb adjacent to McDonaldland Playground and then proceeded into the line of cars in the drive-thru.
Appomattox’s Rhonda Guill was just about to receive her food in the drive-thru when Collins’ vehicle slammed into her.
“I was sitting in the drive-thru and I heard this loud noise, and then I looked up and seen this car flying into me,” said Guill, who was visibly shaken from the incident. “I was scared. I do remember that I had time to scream.”
Guill was transported to the hospital with minor cuts and bruises.
Collins and a passenger were also treated for minor injuries.
Trooper Croft said that no charges would be filed in the private-property accident.
Word of the unusual scene quickly trickled down to local residents, who packed the McDonald’s and Quik-E Food Store parking lots, holding up their cell phones and frantically taking pictures.
Phelps Garage and Donnie Almond wrecker services quickly cleared the damaged cars in about 30 minutes, and fast-food went back to normal in Appomattox.