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Woman steps out of moving car, dies

By MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published October 31, 2006

An Ohio woman died Sunday night when she stepped out of a car that was going 55 mph. S

helley Richardson, 35, said she was driving north on U.S. 301 near Big Bend Road in her 2001 Kia Sportage. Her husband, Stephen, sat in the passenger seat and her mother-in-law, Virginia Greer, was in the back.

Suddenly, Greer, 63, took off her seat belt, opened the car door and stepped out.

"We heard the door open, my husband said, 'What's going on?' and the next thing you know, she wasn't there," Shelley Richardson said.

Greer was run over by at least one other northbound car, which did not stop, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins.

Because it happened at 11:30 p.m. and the road was dark, the driver who hit Greer may not have realized it.

Greer had just arrived from Ohio to visit her son and daughter-in-law. The three had dinner at the home of Greer's ex-husband, Stephen's father. Richardson said that while Greer had some alcohol, she was acting normally until she stepped out of the moving car.

"Everyone's asking us why she did it," Richardson said. "We don't know."

[Last modified October 31, 2006, 05:31:34]