A BMW driver had a lucky escape after accidentally driving through a barrier and into a river.
The £63,000 EV (electric vehicle) plunged into the River Hiz in Hitchin Town Centre, Hertfordshire yesterday.
Despite the SUV becoming almost fully submerged, the female driver reportedly managed to get out unharmed.
It’s believed she thought the EV was in park mode and accidently hit the accelerator, which sent the car through the barrier and into the water.
According to eyewitnesses, the BMW IX3 had been parked at Portmill Lane West Car Park, which sits near the river.
Witness Casey Gutterridge, 32, said: ‘The only thing I heard was someone say the woman hadn’t had the car for too long.
‘One minute she was in the car and the next minute she was in the water.
‘With electric cars you don’t know it’s running sometimes. I think she’s not had the car long and then this happened.
‘We were driving past and we saw loads of sirens. We parked up and within a minute or two saw a car in the water.
‘There were two traffic wardens looking in the distance which was quite funny.
‘By the looks of it was taken out around three or four hours later. I imagine because it’s electric they have to make sure it’s fine.
‘It’s really lucky that no one was hurt. A lot of families use that pathway along the river.’
Hertfordshire Police and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene and the vehicle was lifted and placed on a recovery truck just before 7pm.
In similar circumstances, a man in Norway thought his Tesla was in park mode earlier this month and accidently drove it into a freezing fjord.
Thankfully, and rather unusually, he and the passenger were rescued by a floating sauna.
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