Woman Slightly Hurt When Car Hits Pole

A 76-year-old woman on her way home from a bridge game was trapped in her car for 45 minutes Wednesday after she ran it onto a sidewalk and became wedged between a building and power pole.

The impact broke a piece of conduit on the pole, exposing live high-power wires near the driver’s door.

Ruth Farr was not seriously injured in the 2:45 p.m. accident. But she had to wait until power in the area was turned off before fire crews could free her.

Farr said she was heading west on Main Street at Santa Cruz Street when her car collided with a Geo. “She just bumped me off the road,” said Farr.

Farr’s car ran onto the sidewalk on the south side of Main Street and hit an unoccupied bus bench, sending it about 10 feet down the sidewalk. Her car then became wedged between the wooden power pole and the Avenue Cable building.

The Geo sustained extensive front end damage, and the driver, whom police did not identify, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Neither driver was cited at the scene.

About 20 minutes after the crash, Farr’s husband, Robert, arrived and surveyed his wife’s predicament.

“That’s a dickens of a thing, isn’t it?” said Robert Farr. “You’re banged up a little bit.”

His wife kept her composure throughout the ordeal, joking with a firefighter, and rooting for the University of Michigan football team to win today’s Rose Bowl.

Edison technician David Betran arrived about 3:25 p.m. and shut off the power.

After she was pulled from the car and complained of abdominal pains and a sore wrist, Farr was taken by ambulance to a local hospital .

“You don’t want anything like this to happen,” said Robert Farr. “But she’s all right. She’s fine.”

Power in the area was back on by about 4:30 p.m.