Two tourists made it out of the water uninjured, but their Caravan was less lucky after it was blithely driven into a harbor
by Sebastien Bell
1 hour ago
by Sebastien Bell
Remember, like 10 years ago, when there was a lot of concern over drivers becoming so dependent on their GPS navigation systems that they followed them blindly into bodies of water? Apparently there’s still cause for concern.
Video footage captured by Christie Hutchinson shows a pair of tourists blithely driving into a harbor on the west coast of Hawaii‘s Big Island. The driver claimed that she and her sister were looking for a manta ray tour and were following GPS.
“I was just sitting there trying to seek shelter from the rain, and then the next thing, I saw a car drive directly past our boat straight into the harbor at a pretty decent speed,” Hutchinson told the Washington Post. “It was so confidently done, they didn’t have a look of panic on their face. They were still smiling.”
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The Hutchinsons were less indifferent about the event. In the video, Christie can be heard asking, “What is going on?” as well as, “Pretty sure that was not supposed to happen.” Meanwhile, her husband Sean was among those who dove into the water to help the tourists out.
Following the incident, Hutchinson said that the driver of the vehicle disclosed that she had a heart condition, which may help explain why it took her so long to get out of the Dodge Grand Caravan, and the water.
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Although the locals who leapt to the rescue did manage to get some ropes around the van, they weren’t able to prevent it from becoming completely submerged in the harbor. Fortunately, they were able to anchor it, which helped with retrieval efforts a few hours later, and prevented it from damaging any boats.
The incident occurred at the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor, and a staff member at Manta Ray Dives (which, apparently, wasn’t the manta ray tour company the Caravan’s occupants were looking for) said that it wasn’t the first time this happened.
However, she said that drivers normally get into trouble at night, not during the day. The Hutchinson’s vehicle, which was parked on the launch in order to pull their boat out of the water, may have contributed to tourists’ confusion. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.