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Woman, 77, Cited For Driving Into Pistakee Lake

FOX LAKE (CBS) -- A 77-year-old Ingleside woman escaped serious injury when she mistook the gas pedal for the brake pedal and launched her vehicle off the end of Grand Avenue into Pistakee Lake.

Helen Rosing, 77, of Ingleside was ticketed for failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, said Lt. Jeffery Norris of the Fox Lake Police Department.

"We estimated that she hit the fence [at the end of Grand Avenue] at about 50 mph," he said. That launched her vehicle 150 feet into the water.

She told police and fire personnel that she thought she was hitting the brake at Grand Avenue and Route 12 to stop for a red light, but instead hit the gas pedal.

Norris said witnesses said she went through the red light at that intersection and then ran the stop sign at Pistakee Lake Road before passing the Dockers restaurant and bar, and striking the fence.

She was in good condition on Friday when she was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center, Libertyville. She was alert and talking.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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