An elderly man has blamed modern car pedal design for his spectacular collision in Melbourne.
Wally Whitworth, 96, hit the accelerator instead of the brake while visiting his wife at Austin Hospital last week.
His Ford Fairlane shot across a busy street, sped over a grassy area and flew over two parked cars. The vehicle then crashed into the side of a private clinic opposite the hospital, narrowly missing a power pole. The entire incident was captured by a parked car's dashboard camera.
Mr Whitworth, a World War II veteran, told 9NEWS he was lucky to be alive.
"How I got out of that, I'll never know," he says.
The grandfather suffered a fractured back and a badly bruised leg, and spent several days recovering in the Royal Melbourne Hospital. No one else was injured.
Mr Whitworth is a former mechanic, who has spent much of his life behind the wheel, driving trams, buses, taxis and even Mr Whippy vans. He says pedals in modern automatic cars are badly designed and could be responsible for accidents.
"That's the stupidest bloody thing they've ever invented, putting two pedals an inch apart," he told 9NEWS.
His driver's licence is under review, pending a medical examination.
Newshub.
