Mercedes ML Goes for Unintentional Swim in New Jersey River
While pulling into a car wash in Hackensack, driver of the Mercedes ML320 mistook the gas for the brake, giving their SUV an extra rinse.
The Mercedes ML was quite the luxury SUV in its day. Originally intended to replace the G-Wagen, the first MLs rolled off the line in Alabama in early February 1997 with a first-in-class electronic stability control, front and side-impact airbags to protect you and yours, and at least a handful became the official transport of the Pope.
Though it has been graced by holy presences in the past, the ML unfortunately will not roll on water. That’s what one owner in New Jersey recently discovered the hard way at a car wash in Hackensack, according to NJ.com.
Around noon July 16, the 2002 ML320 (owned by Evelyn Asperilla of Teaneck, New Jersey, according to New York City CBS flagship WCBS-TV) was pulling out of the car wash for some post-wash detailing when its driver mixed up the gas pedal with the brake.
Instead of pulling to a stop, the Mercedes jumped forward toward a gap next to the exit. Panic set immediately, leading the SUV, Evelyn, and her young daughter Carla Asperilla into the Hackensack River, which is not a place for a swim due to the continued sewage discharge and urban runoff impairing the water quality.
“The tide was going out, so it was probably mid-tide and the Hackensack River has a very muddy bottom, so when the car impacted the water it did hit the mud and didn’t sink any further,” Hackensack Fire Department Captain Justin Derevyanik told WCBS-TV. “When the car was removed from the water you see the damage and the mud dripping off the car.”
Derevyanik says workers at the car wash were able to rescue the Asperillas from their sudden plunge into the river, where the elder was taken to the hospital while the younger declined medical attention.
As for why the ML320 was even able to take a dive into the Hackensack in the first place, Derevyanik says his building official told him that there were no requirements to build a fence or similar barrier on the property, and that it “would be up to the property owner to do.” It’s also the second time this happened at the car wash. Maybe now would be a good time for the owner to erect that fence?
Photos & Video: Hackensack Fire Department/Facebook
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