Driving lesson ends in a bad note: driver (17) makes a mistake with the pedal and parks the car vertically next to the railway (Kontich)

A student driver and her mother escaped unscathed during a driving lesson in Kontich. The 17-year-old driver had made a wrong pedal choice. The car came to a vertical stop right next to the railway line.

The accident happened around 2:30 p.m. “A mother was giving her daughter driving lessons near the Lintsesteenweg in Kontich,” says Kathleen Beirinckx, spokesperson for the Hekla police zone. “When the young driver drove out of Rozengaard and came to a T-junction with the paved road, she made a mistake about the pedals. Instead of braking, she pressed the accelerator.”

The car went over the Lintsesteenweg, through the hedge and crashed off a small wall. The car eventually ended up vertically, right next to the railway. “The mother and daughter escaped unscathed. They were taken to hospital with minor injuries,” says Beirinckx.

The accident briefly halted train traffic in Kontich. After the wreck was towed, technicians from railway manager Infrabel arrived on site for an inspection. Train traffic was able to pass at normal speed again around 3:30 p.m.