Man Awaiting Driving Test Rams DMV Office

A 72-year-old man in line to take a driver’s test today plowed his car into the Department of Motor Vehicles building in Canoga Park, injuring four customers and two employees before stopping 40 feet inside the office.

Most of the injuries were minor. Four of the six injured were taken to area hospitals for treatment, said Pat Marek, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

File cabinets and desks were shoved out of way by the car, said DMV Investigator Steve Torres. One woman was dragged underneath the car and another went tumbling over the hood, witnesses said. When the car finally stopped, one person was pinned against the wall, they said.

The accident occurred as John Anderson of Reseda pulled his black pickup truck up along the side of the building to take a driver’s test. Torres said that for some reason Anderson drove forward at a high rate of speed, made a large circle around the parking lot and crashed into the brick wall of the one-story DMV building. Anderson was not injured. The cause of the accident is under investigation, he said.

The DMV facility in the 20700 block of Sherman Way was closed after the 9:45 a.m. accident because the computer system was down and employees were visibly shaken, Torres said. The building will be closed until the computer system is repaired, he said.

“People were yelling it was an earthquake. They were screaming and running through to get out of the way,” said Jerri Watson of Agoura, who was inside the building at the time and was still visibly shaken an hour after the incident.

After the accident, Anderson said he lost control of the truck when the accelerator jammed. “I was pulling up to my spot to wait and the throttle stuck,” Anderson said. “I put on the brakes. What I should have done is turned off the ignition, but I guess I panicked.”

Ruth Johnston, the registered owner of the truck who had driven Anderson to the DMV and was waiting inside for him, said she had never had any problems with the accelerator.

“I don’t care if I ever drive again,” Anderson said after the accident.