Henry Niehsen wanted to do his son a favor by taking his car through the E-check station in Newtown.
But instead of a smooth trip through the emissions test lane, the driverless car was thrown off the test rollers, then proceeded out of the station, across the parking lot, down an embankment and into a water retention pond.
The 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme has been in a body shop for five weeks, but it could be reunited with its owner very soon after MARTA Technologies, which runs 13 Southwest Ohio E-check stations, agreed to resolve a dilemma.
Mr. Niehsen said his son Michael couldn't reclaim the car because its license plates expired and he couldn't get new ones without an E-check certificate. And he said he couldn't get it to E-check without driving it with expired plates.
MARTA Technologies regional manager Edward Lemmert said the Niehsens can get an E-check waiver, which will allow them to get new plates.
Here's what happened:
On March 20, Mr. Niehsen, of Oakley, was watching his son's car from the waiting room as it went through the test.
"One moment, the car was sitting on the rollers," he said. Then it headed out the door. "When it passed me, I could see there was no driver in it."
Newtown Police Chief Daryl Zornes reported that a MARTA employee left the vehicle while it was still in "drive" gear.
Mr. Niehsen led skeptical test lane employees into the parking lot. "We looked to the right, we looked to the left. I didn't see no car."
Then they noticed a "big hole" down a slope beyond the parking area. "I saw my car sitting down in the mud hole. . . . It went over the curb and all of the way down."
MARTA will pay for the tow and any repairs.
