VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - In the blink of an eye, an SUV smashed through a glass window of Gilbert Eyecare on Laskin Road.
"It was loud. It was one off the loudest sudden noises that I can ever recall here," said Dr. David Gilbert.
A patient pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal on December 14, sending his SUV into the office. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
"Thank God he was okay. No one was hurt," said Dr. Gilbert. "He was stunned. He was shocked. It was the true definition of an accident."
The accident marks the fourth time someone has crashed into one of the practice's offices over the years. A drunk driver somehow got stuck halfway in the Norfolk office several years ago.
"There is some irony there that we've had somebody drive through our office multiple times," said Dr. Gilbert.
Since the accident, Dr. Gilbert put up a sign reading, "Walk-ins welcome. Drive-thru not so much."
"We realized that we had the choice of either looking at plywood or making light of the situation, so we came up with something that we felt like would be fun," said Dr. Gilbert.
Gilbert takes some solace that the patient crashed on the way to the appointment, not on the way out of the office. "It's important to have your yearly eye exam and make sure your eyeglasses are working," he said.
The sign will remain up until the glass is replaced in about three months.
