Nov 17, 2012 2 min read

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Ronda Tennis never believed that the simple act of cleaning the floor mats in her vehicle could potentially threaten her life. She now believes differently as she narrowly escaped serious injury and even death Saturday morning when driver’s side floor mat became entangled around her Jeep’s brake and gas pedals. Tennis, 45, of 705 E. Beau St., was planning to take a large box to a friend. She decided to take her Jeep, when the box wouldn’t fit into her smaller car. “I had just taken the plastic mats out of the car and cleaned them,” she said. “When I put them back in, I placed the mat under the brake and on top of the gas.” Around 10 a.m., as Tennis was ready leave her driveway when this went awry. Tennis’ home sits on top of the steep hillside that overlooks East Beau Street and the highway. “When I hit the brake, the gas accelerated,” she said. According to Tennis, the vehicle “took off,” barely missing a flag pole in her front yard, then crashing through a wooden fence and speeding down the hillside between two large trees. “I though I’m going to die,” explained Tennis, before deciding to jump out of the speeding vehicle which eventually crossed Beau, struck the guardrail and finally came to rest in the field. Tennis said she suffered some bruising from her jump. But, she said she more thankful that no one else got hurt. “It’s just a miracle that it didn’t hit a tree or another vehicle,” she said. “It really could have been a disaster.” Tennis said police were called to the scene by a passing motorist who saw the runaway Jeep. Shortly afterward, the Jeep was removed from its resting site and taken to a mechanic for repairs. Tennis said amazingly it wasn’t that badly damaged.