9:39am Thursday 18th March 2010
A student says she was lucky to escape serious injury when her car burst into flames after an apparently "minor" accident.
Lauren Iwanoff, a 21-year-old law student from The Harebreaks, was on her way to University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield when she crashed on the A405 near Bricket Wood.
Within seconds her nearly new Hyundai i10 caught fire, with flames leaping from the bonnet.
Minutes after her escape, the car’s interior had been gutted by the blaze.
She said: “I didn’t hit it very hard because the airbag didn’t even come out. I was driving at about 40mph when the car two places in front of me suddenly slammed on its brakes.
“I couldn’t stop in time. I don’t know how fast I was going when I hit it, but I had slowed right down.
“I was a bit shaken but it really wasn’t a big impact. When I saw the flames I jumped out, but within ten seconds it had really gone up. I was lucky I wasn’t trapped inside.”
Miss Iwanoff, who believes she may have fallen victim to a staged “crash for cash” accident on Monday, March 8, escaped her ordeal with only minor cuts and bruises.
Her father, Andrej, however, is demanding answers from the car’s manufacturers.
He said: “What we should have been faced with is a bill for minor repairs – not a complete write-off. I was stunned when I saw what had happened.
“I don’t even want to think what would have happened if she was trapped and couldn’t get out.”
A Hyundai spokesman said the company was investigating the incident but could not comment further at this stage.
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