Mentally ill road rager meets a fiery end

Turns out she was mentally ill, so I won't gloat at the death of a mad
driver since she really was mad. Still, its an extraordinary
incident...


Road-rage driver burns to death

* September 23, 2008 - 7:57AM

A driver, overcome with road-rage, burned to death after ramming into
a car and then setting her own car on fire by furiously revving the
engine.

Witnesses told an inquest the actions of Serena Sutton-Smith were
"against all human instincts", after the 54-year-old refused to leave
her car and she sat with her foot on the accelerator while intense
flames engulfed her.

Ms Sutton-Smith was driving her Vauxhall Nova on a country road in
Gloucestershire when she was flashed by Paula Small, driving a Fiat
Punto, after the two cars nearly collided, The Daily Mail reported.

Mrs Small pulled in ahead of Ms Sutton-Smith and was about to get out
of her car when Ms Sutton-Smith, 54, deliberately drove into the back
of her Fiat, the paper said.

Ms Sutton-Smith then began revving her engine, causing the front tyre
to disintegrated.

Sparks flew after the wheel dug into the road, which then ignited the
car's brake fluid and set it ablaze.

Nicholas Willmore, who was working in a nearby workshop, tried to
rescue Ms Sutton-Smith, but was "bewildered" when she threatened him
and slammed her door shut.

"There was a deafening sound of an engine running as though someone
had a foot stuck on the accelerator," he told the inquest.

"The car's front wheels were spinning and there was loads of revving.
I could see a biggish person at the wheel and there was movement in
the car.

"Flames were coming from underneath the car and I thought the person
might be trapped inside although I couldn't hear any shouting.

"I opened the driver's door wide. It opened easily. The person looked
at me - it was a big built woman.

"I said: 'You've got to get out of the car. It's going to burst into
flames'.

"But she raised her right fist towards me in a threatening manner
before slamming the door shut. I was a bit bewildered and moved three
to four yards back.

"I could see her gesturing towards me. She seemed to be in quite a
rage. Both fists were raised and being shaken and the person was
looking right at me.

"This was definitely done in a manner to tell me to stay away from her
car."

Mr Willmore ran to his workshop and fetched a fire extinguisher, but
it had had no effect on the raging vehicle.

Another person also had an extinguisher, but it too had little effect,
he said.

"The heat was getting more and more intense and the flames were
growing. I could no longer see inside. There was nothing else that
could be done to help the person inside.

"There was no attempt by the person to get out. In my opinion it was
against all human instincts for someone to stay inside that car."

Firefighters put out the blaze, but Ms Sutton-Smith was already dead.

The inquest heard medical evidence that Ms Sutton-Smith suffered from
bi-polar disorder and could become extremely agitated, The Daily Mail
said.

Her mental condition made it likely that she would act impulsively and
fail to appreciate when she was in danger, the paper said.

The inquest reached a verdict of accidental death, and the coroner
said he was satisfied Ms Sutton-Smith had not intended to kill
herself.

smh.com.au

In article
,
Travis wrote:

(snip)
"Flames were coming from underneath the car and I thought the person
might be trapped inside although I couldn't hear any shouting.

(snip)
Mr Willmore ran to his workshop and fetched a fire extinguisher, but
it had had no effect on the raging vehicle.

Another person also had an extinguisher, but it too had little effect,
he said.

(rest snipped)


As an aside ..

Did you see the television footage of the truck suicide bomb that
destroyed the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan. There was one guard who
approached the truck with a fire extinguisher after the driver had blown
himself up and the fire was raging.

Call me cautious but if I saw somebody try to drive a truck through road
barriers (repeatedly) then blow themselves up, setting fire to said
truck, my last thought would be to approach the vehicle with a dry
powder or water hand-held fire extinguisher. There were plenty of other
uniformed people standing around gawking as well. I suspect none of them
survived the blast that created a huge crater.

'Tis a dirty business to be sure.

20cents