Minivan crashes into Lynchburg building

By Dave Thompson
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: May 21, 2008

A city woman’s ride in a minivan down hilly 12th Street in downtown Lynchburg on Tuesday afternoon ended in a collision with a building after her brakes failed.

Officer Bryant Nowlin said Betty Saunders, 42, of Lynchburg, was driving her 2003 Dodge Caravan north on 12th Street shortly before 1:30 p.m.

About halfway down the hill, Saunders said, she realized her brakes had failed and she was unable to stop.

“The brakes failed on it,” she said, “I had just got them done a week before that.”

She said the she tried to stop the car several ways.

“I tried to throw it up in gear to see if it would just actually stop, the emergency brake, it didn’t do anything,” she said.

The speed limit in that area of 12th Street is 25 mph, but Nowlin had no estimate on how fast the vehicle was traveling, given the hill and Saunders’ inability to brake.

Saunders said she also didn’t have any idea of her speed.

“I dodged quite a few cars,” she said.

Saunders eventually turned the van into the parking lot at the former ECK Supply building near the corner of 12th and Church streets, where she crashed into a garage door.

Nowlin said the van took out the door and some of the bricks around it, but he was unsure of the amount of damage.

He said while most of the building is vacant, the front is undergoing renovation, though he didn’t know for whom.

Saunders’ 16-year-old daughter and son, along with her son’s girlfriend were also in the minivan, but Nowlin said none were hurt beyond being “banged up.”

He said the vehicle was inspected after the accident and investigators determined the brakes were not working properly.

No charges were filed in the incident.

Photo by Chet White, Lynchburg News & Advance