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Subscribe to RSSNEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- A minivan with two parents and two children on board plunged off the Balboa Ferry Friday morning after it was struck by another vehicle.
A ferry worker dove into the water and helped the family escape, getting the fourth person out of the minivan just seconds before it sank 15 feet into Newport Harbor.
No one was hurt -- the van went under just after the final passenger was rescued.
Read the original story on NBCLosAngeles.com
In addition to the ferry worker who led the rescue effort, two boaters pulled alongside to help.
Witnesses said a black Mercedes-Benz accidentally accelerated as it boarded the ferry. It rammed the minivan, pushing it into the water.
The Mercedes was left teetering off the end of the ferry.
The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on the Balboa Island side of the ferry run.
Witnesses also said the minivan floated for about a minute and a half before it sank.
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Whatever plastic blonde that was driving that Mercedes should take off her oversized diamond framed sunglasses on cloudy days.
Maybe the Mercedes was named "Christine"
I bet she was texting.
The good news is that the Mercedes owner more than likely has TONS of insurance and will be purchasing this family a new minivan. And I am sure there will be some EPA or local Environmental office, fines for gas and oil in the water from the minivan which are usually tacked on daily until the car is removed. Plus the costs of the extraction of the minivan. Hopefully the Merceded driver can be sited for improper use of a vehicle also. Break out your checkbook r-tard.
Why is everyone assuming it was a woman driving the Mercedes?
ferry's are so gay.
It was probably some rich, old, white dude one percenter who figured he needed more room and no damned minivan was going to stop him from taking the space he wanted.
why are you so sure it was a female???the story did not mention gender
why does the title highlight that it was a mercedes that hit the minivan? they didnt include the make of the mini-van in the title, so its suspect that it was done with intent at somehow giving mercedes a bad name (like the can do worse after the che incident). this is very bad journalism and a non-story for msnbc to put up, this is more local news cause no one died.
where are the safety guards on the ferry? if ur loading then why would u have an open bow? never been on ferry but seems a huge safety risk based on other drivers skills at ferry loading a vehicle without safety guards. if the mercedes was teetering off the bow then the minivan was not in park, had not applied brake pressure or the mercedes accelerated quite fast in which again having some safety guard on the bow would solve that.
Why does anyone ASSUME it was female-male, republican-democrat, Black-white, rich-poor? We ALL should know what assuming does.
Don't you people ever research ? LIke (read original story???).
YES it was a female driver in the mercedes..40's
I can't believe she's not being charged though. Even minor fender benders gets the offender a 'unable to control' ticket (or sumtin like that).
Gotta get the FACTS.
Friggin republicans! Couldn't stand having their Mercedes behind a minivan.
And would you just look at those hypocritical democrats polluting the harbor with their minivan.
Troll
I want a minivan that floats for a minute and a half before taking on water! That's better than my old fishin boat.
BTW That was a totally republican response to the first joke about the Mercedes pushing the minivan into the water. Still in this joking scenario, the Pubes caused the catastrophe and then turn right around and blame the outcome and the resulting problems on the victims! Thank you, Dingle, for proving once again that the TPublicans all think alike. Cause as much trouble as you can and then blame someone else for the fallout.
Your whole movement should get "Obama '12" bumper stickers for your support of his second term.
Class Warfare!
This was in California for Pete's sake. The land of over the top democrat spending. The Mercedes driver was probably a dumbocrat who has drunk too much of the obuma kool-aid
And if it turns out to have been Ahnuld driving?
i personally picture pelosie in the benz, but thats besides the point... how can you just out of the blue figure politics in something so unrelated? i think i want some of what ever most of you are smokin.
as for the article, great job the the guy who saved all those people in such short of time.
BigJeff-2931255
that was before the van went under water, completely. huge difference.
RINO Democrat no difference.
Somebody needs to invent a cure for Left v Right syndrome.
Jon Huntsman looks like the cure to this devisiveness.
DMac1959, research, my dear Person. Orange County, CA (where the accident took place) is a heavily Republican county. It is the richest county in California, with a massive concentration of corporate offices. Mercedes and Lexus are the most common cars on the road. If you want more liberal, you have to go farther north.
Well, hell, the minivan was in the Mercedes' space. Didn't know enough to get out on its own. You know, when you buy a Cadillac, the road comes with it. I guess a Mercedes at least rates its own ferry.
Got that right!!! :)
I have always known that those damn Mercedes were psychotic.
The one percent (Mercedes) will do anything to rid the U.S. of the middle class (minivan).
Never give a blond a loaded weapon or a car.
Especially if he owes you money.
Sorry Holly, I know how much you want that driver to be male, but she is female.
BENZ There, Done That .
wow, perfect commercial for the politicians pushing class-warfare. Those evil, inconsiderate, rude, selfish Benz drivers.
You forgot "stupid'. They buy those overpriced heaps for "status". In Europe, they're taxi cabs.
Bravo! to the ferry worker who dove in to save the family.
That's what I was thinking The Beev! What a hero!
Give that ferry worker a medal! It is a shame the workers name was not included in this article for a well deserved 15 minutes of fame.
His name is Nicholas Nagel, and he definitely deserves a raise
Thank you Nicholas, YOU still have a sense of responsibility and compassion. That sir is more precious than all the gold in the world. I just wonder what "accident waiting to happen" fulfilled their destiny by failing to operate their "status" symbol properly. A status symbol is only here in America, a common taxi overseas, give me an old mussel car and I will be happy.
"volunteers" and people like this man, should get an automatic reward from the government for doing such things..imo.
Volunteers and 'do-gooders' is what runs this country a lot smoother than it'd be without them. Heck, even 70% of firemen are volunteers.
Without those people that aren't afraid to get involved, we'd all be screwed.
I couldn't stand to drive a clammy car.
The mussEll car would clam onto the side of the ferry,
The man needs a raise, that's what. Worker put his own life on the line to save customers. Where do you find workers like that anymore?
The fast food guy who knocked the crap out of the 3 who jumped the counter comes to mind....
Guys take it easy on the "jobs creator" driving the mercedes :-)
Tea Partiers are MORONS.. banned, rereg of multiple accounter Tea Partiers are MORONS..
Accident my ass this is road rage spreading to car ferries now.
Hats off to the ferry worker...above and beyond the call...wish I could buy you a beer and a burger...this isn't god or karma...it's just someone who gives a damn...
that Mercedes was beeing driven by the ghost of Ernesto "Che" Guevara. :)
If that were the case it would have killed the Mercedes driver.
I ride that alot and never heard of it happening before, but if you have rode that ferrie before then you know it was going to happen some time. The pull down rails on them dont look like they can withstand much. Its also been in operation for a long time so the odds are there.
Seems like a reckless way to operate a ferry. The safe plan would be for all passengers to dismount the vehicles and a ferry employee drive the vehicle on and off. The crew can be sure that brakes are properly set before getting underway. Passengers re-enter the cars after they are safely on shore again.
That's the way the ferry worked when I crossed Lake Michigan on one.
Check to see if a cell phone was involved then THROW THE BOOK at them (although I would guess the Merc had Bluetooth).
Hey, guys? How do you know the person was a stereotype behind the wheel of the Mercedes? The article doesn't tell you anything about the car or the driver. It could easily have been an elderly driver who had gotten the car after years of dreaming of it. Or it could have been an older model Mercedes. You don't know for sure. Let us look at the real facts before we draw conclusions.
peachie, you need to get to school and learn what a sense of humor is, then apply that learning to yourself. these posts are great humor, you aren't funny or seriously serious, maybe delerious, or possibly furious.
PeachWookiee
It might have been Mickey Mouse driving a new SL-55....who cares. The important thing is nobody died and the ferry worker is a hero.
Exactly. Nobody died, and chances are the Mercedes driver has uber insurance, so things will be taken care of. Why not have fun with it? Anyone ever think the chick in the Mercedes accidentally hit that new automatic self-park button? Michael, where would you like to go today? IN THE BAY!
Peach,
Where's the fun in that? You don't think we go to msnbc for facts or truth do you?
The facts are that the driver was a woman in her 40s. Let us take the effort to actually look at the real facts before we draw the conclusion that there is no information and that random contrarian speculation under the guise of "who knows??" is appropriate.
A cup of joe and a burger. tks...
1% against 99% in action this time.
I'd like to know the make of the minivan. Life-saving feature that it was able to float for a minute and a half while the family was rescued. And yes, the ferry worker is a HERO!
That feature is called, in industry terms, "air."
Taiwanese tourists were in the van and the driver of the merc says that the accelerator stuck.
Yeah right....the old "accelerator" sticking theme. Fess up idiot...you blew it.
Ah cars, is there no end to the joy they bring?
It seems the class warfare is not so much fueled by the media, as by the public's idiotic comments, as evidenced here.
it's really nothing more than anonymity.
Congress will apoint a commite to investage this that will get them out of doing any real work