Actually, the worst problem was not the fact that she doesn't notice the turned wheels, but the fact that she keeps on accelerating stubbornly. She panicked, and as a reaction she pushed the gas pedal even harder. The real problem is that. I think special courses to eliminate such instinctive non-sense should be added to driving-school lessons. It's like the instinct that makes many people who are losing balance on a motorcycle to give even more gas instead of letting it go. It's dangerous and needs to be corrected.
EXACTLY...just let off the brake... see where it goes, and if it's going straight (one need move no more than 6 inches to figure this out) feel free to floor it. Of course make sure you also look both ways first... with a driver dumb enough to do that who knows what else might happen!
They did not have great requirements on the roof strength back then. And it is 20 years old and has an extra ton that it was never designed to deal with. And it bouncing around doesn't help much either.