Wrong turn sends driver down Spanish Steps, car lifted by crane, video shows
An elderly man's wrong turn down a famous Italian landmark led to his vehicle being craned away.
An 80-year-old man on his way to work mistakenly drove his Mercedes-Benz sedan down Rome's famous Spanish Steps in the early morning June 17, Italian media reports show.
Video captured the driver slowly navigating down the historic stairs before getting stuck as well as the audio reaction of bystanders in disbelief.
Police said the man exited the vehicle uninjured and firefighters used a crane to remove the vehicle from the steps, Italian outlet Il Corriere della Sera reported.
Public access to the Spanish Steps was temporarily restricted while experts with the Ministry of Culture examined the extent of damage caused by the driver, according to CBS News.
Upon being taken to a local hospital, the man tested negative for both alcohol and drug consumption, CNN reported citing city police.
However officers said the driver appeared to be in a state of confusion, according to Il Corriere della Sera. He reportedly had a valid driver's license.
The peculiar moment wasn't the first time a vehicle drove through the historic landmark. In 2022, a Saudi man was charged with aggravated damage to cultural heritage after footage captured a Maserati driving down the same steps.
Build between 1723 and 1726, the Spanish Steps lead from the iconic Piazza di Spagna square to the French monastery church Trinita dei Monti, according to Rome's tourist site.
The landmark features 135 total steps as well as three different terraces that reference the Holy Trinity or the Trinità. Tourists often visit the top of the stairs for a scenic view of Rome.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wrong turn sends driver down Spanish Steps, car lifted by crane: Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Superyacht Is Pulled From Seabed Ten Months After Sinking That Killed Lynch
ROME (AP) — A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, partially resurfaced Saturday as salvage recovery crews finalized the complex operation to bring it ashore for further investigation. The white top and blue hull of the 56-meter (184-foot) Bayesian was visible on the surface but was not clear of the sea yet in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Superyacht is pulled from the seabed 10 months after sinking off Sicily
ROME (AP) — A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, partially resurfaced Saturday as salvage recovery crews finalized the complex operation to bring it ashore for further investigation. The white top and blue hull of the 56-meter (184-foot) Bayesian was visible on the surface but was not clear of the sea yet in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge. 'Pumping out of sea water will continue and it will be lunchtime, following a series of lifting and resting procedures to satisfy the salvage team, before Bayesian is fully and finally out of the water,' said David Wilson, spokesman for TMC Maritime, which is conducting the recovery operation. The Bayesian sank Aug. 19 off Porticello, near Palermo, during a violent storm as Lynch was treating friends to a cruise to celebrate his acquittal two months earlier in the U.S. on fraud charges. Lynch, his daughter and five others died. Fifteen people survived, including the captain and all crew members except the chef. Italian authorities are conducting a full criminal investigation. TMC Maritime said the vessel has been slowly raised from the seabed, 50 meters (165-feet) down, over the past three days to allow the steel lifting straps, slings and harnesses to be secured under the keel. Eight steel lifting straps are being used to support the hull upright and to form part of a steel wire lifting system that began raising the vessel out of the water Saturday. As it is lifted up, sea water is pumped out of the hull. TMC Maritime said the vessel will be held upright, out of the water, for checks and preparations for its final journey. On Sunday, it is anticipated the floating crane platform will move the Bayesian to the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese, where a special steel cradle is waiting for it. The Bayesian is missing its 72-meter (236-foot) mast, which was cut off and left on the seabed for future removal. The mast had to be detached to allow the hull to be brought to a nearly upright position that would allow the craft to be raised. British investigators said in an interim report issued last month that the yacht was knocked over by 'extreme wind' and couldn't recover. The report said the Bayesian had chosen the site where it sank as shelter from forecast thunderstorms. Wind speeds exceeded 70 knots (81 mph) at the time of the sinking and 'violently' knocked the vessel over to a 90-degree angle in under 15 seconds. Lynch, who sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011, had been acquitted on fraud charges in June 2024 by a federal court jury in San Francisco. The Associated Press
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Superyacht is pulled from the seabed 10 months after sinking off Sicily
ROME — A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily last year , killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, partially resurfaced Saturday as salvage recovery crews finalized the complex operation to bring it ashore for further investigation. The white top and blue hull of the 56-meter (184-foot) Bayesian was visible on the surface but was not clear of the sea yet in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge.
