Praying While Driving Has Not-So-Divine Results For Ohio Woman

Check praying off as another one of those things you shouldn’t do while driving. One Ohio woman learned that lesson the hard way when she reportedly crashed her car into another woman’s car, causing multiple injuries. Thankfully there were no fatalities in this case, but Fox News 8 reports that this doesn’t mean the woman won’t face consequences.

Authorities in Bellevue, Ohio, wanted to believe that 62-year-old Marilyn Perry was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when she hit and injured 50-year-old Pamela Beckham. They also suspected that she may have been using her mobile phone at the time of the accident. However, her drug test came out clean and texting was found to not be the cause. The true cause was the woman’s need to pray.

Perry admitted to praying while driving. She even told authorities that she’d put her head down during prayer at times. It was during one of these times that she crashed her car into Beckham’s vehicle. Perry also admitted that she’d been going through some problems in her life as well.

The victim suffered multiple injuries, including a broken neck. Authorities have charged the praying driver with aggravated vehicular assault – -a charge that was quickly indicted. Perry is now serving three years of “probation through intervention,” instead of facing conviction.

This is probably the first time someone has gotten into a car accident because they were praying while driving, but other people have done strange things while operating vehicles as well. Earlier this year an Ohio couple were busted for driving around naked while eating pizza. The news of the intoxicated pizza-loving couple went viral just last month. Last year a Wisconsin couple was arrested for driving while intoxicated, but they finished off their drunken antics by having sex in the back of the police cruiser. In a similar case, a New Mexico man was arrested for trying to have sex while driving. In an almost comical chain of events, the man crashed his car after running a red light while having his girlfriend climb on top of him. She was ejected during the accident, but survived with just minor injuries.

Hopefully Marilyn Perry has learned her lesson about driving and praying at the same time. She lucked out this time because the person she crashed into didn’t suffer fatal injuries. There’s no word in any reports covering this story regarding whether or not her license has been suspended or revoked.

Photo: Bellevue Police mugshot