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Hybrid vehicle attacks petrol station'I could not stop the car', admits shaken victimPublished Monday 12th March 2007 11:58 GMT RoTM The driver of a Toyota Prius had a narrow escape recently when his vehicle decided to do away with its human master by ploughing into a Tacoma petrol station "narrowly missing a clerk and sparking a fire". Shaken victim Art Robinson of DuPont told KING5.com he'd just bought the hybrid on the morning of 6 March, but "only after he was absolutely sure it was safe to drive". Two different dealers passed it as posing no threat to mankind, and one even "certified" it. Pretty soon, however, the car "began to act strangely". Robinson, evidently oblivious to the activities of killer Renault Lagunas, decided to take it back to the dealers. The Prius evidently sensed the plan, because it "began accelerating even though [Robinson] applied the brakes and the emergency brake". Robinson recounted: "I could not stop the car. Because of its design I couldn't shift into neutral. It happened so fast I didn't have time to be scared then. I'm scared now." And with good reason, because the satanic Japanese motor decided to launch a kamikaze-style assault on the Hosmer Food Store and 76 gas station, where clerk Linda Kinard was innocently putting away groceries. Kinard said of the impact: "There was just an explosion. To me it sounded like a bomb and things were just flying all over." Kinard found herself pinned behind the counter by the impact, which quickly provoked a fire. She later admitted: "It was very scary." Petrol station attendant Art Smith, who'd been pumping gas at the time of the attack, told KING5.com: "I was at the gas pump and I heard this 'whooshing' go by me and the next thing I know, this car's in the building and at first I was shocked, of course. I didn't know what to think." Smith quickly advised Robinson to vacate the Prius, and was then able to extricate Kinard from the wreckage before firefighters arrived to bring the blaze under control. A "team of Toyota experts" subsequently arrived to remove the vehicle. Smith later consoled Robsinson with: "You can replace a car, you can replace a building, you can't replace a person ever." Robinson, clearly unaware of the implications of the incident, said he was indeed "going to try to make the dealership replace the car". ® BootnoteThanks to local NRA cadre member Greg Gilbraith for the tip-off. Stay vigilant. The Rise of the Machines™Humans taste of bacon, says gourmet robot (10 November 2006)
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