You know it's time to stop driving when...

[dawgfan]

Elderly woman hits husband, salesman and trashes 2 cars at Honda dealership. (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/15/dealership.accident.ap/index.html)

For the clicking-impaired:

FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) -- An 81-year-old woman preparing to take a test drive at a car dealership hit her husband, a salesman, a car and a tree before running into a wall.

"She must have panicked," said Joe Sica, sales manager at Honda of Fort Myers.

The new Honda Accord shot backward after Dorothy Byrum got behind the wheel and apparently stepped on the wrong pedal Wednesday.

The open car door hit her 88-year-old husband, Robert, and the salesman. Then the car struck the parked car, the tree and the wall. The air bag deployed, and Byrum was not injured.

Her husband was knocked down but was in good condition the following day. The salesman was released after treatment and is expected to be out of work for about a week, Sica said.

The car was written off.

I think it's time for you to surrender the driver's license granny - you're a menace.

[sachmo71]

That's funny, but the same sort of thing happened to me once.

My GF and I were getting ready to go to a ballgame for my birthday. She wanted me to drive, and I had just gotten some new boots. I got in the car, and for whatever reason, I put my foot on the gas. I started the car, and the engine was racing. I remember thinking, "That's funny." and went to put the car into reverse. Unfortunately, D comes before R, and the car shot forward, right into the side of the house. Crunched car and house.

One of the more embarassing moments of my life. :(

[nfg22]

Same thing happened in florida at one of My step-dads restaurants....A lady was taking a drivers test and she hit the gas instead of the break and went through the wall, then she continued to press harder thinking the breaks werent working...Kept going till she hita suport beam...

[ice4277]

That's funny, but the same sort of thing happened to me once.

My GF and I were getting ready to go to a ballgame for my birthday. She wanted me to drive, and I had just gotten some new boots. I got in the car, and for whatever reason, I put my foot on the gas. I started the car, and the engine was racing. I remember thinking, "That's funny." and went to put the car into reverse. Unfortunately, D comes before R, and the car shot forward, right into the side of the house. Crunched car and house.

One of the more embarassing moments of my life. :(
What kind of car were you driving that D comes before R?

[sachmo71]

BMW?

It's possible that I just blew past R. I don't remember. *shurg*

[dawgfan]

Are we talking a manual or automatic here?

[WSUCougar]

Perhaps granny was talking on her cell phone?




JUST KIDDING!!! :D

[sachmo71]

Are we talking a manual or automatic here?


I believe it was automatic.

The point is, I crashed into my girlfriends house, and I wasn't even drunk. :(

[dawgfan]

Definitely embarrassing, no question. Does your GF still give you grief about it?

[sabotai]

Another tale of wrong petal at the wrong time (heard it on the news at lunch)

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050415/NEWS/504150369/1004/NEWS01

For clicking impared:

Teen learning to park accidentally kills mother

MARLBORO — A 16-year-old girl, learning to parallel-park on a quiet street Thursday afternoon, struck and killed her mother in what is being called a "horrible accident," the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said.

The 44-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene a short time after the accident was reported to township police at 2:15 p.m., Robert A. Honecker Jr., first assistant county prosecutor, said Thursday night.

The names of the woman and her daughter were withheld by authorities pending notification of family members.

"What we have here is a very tragic situation," Honecker said Thursday night after being briefed by investigators about the day's events. "At this point, and this only a preliminary investigation right now, it appears to be a horrible accident. That's all I can say."

Investigators late Thursday were still trying to piece together what happened, but the accident occurred near East Frances and Burr avenues just north of Route 520 in the township's Robertsville section.

The teenager, who had a valid learner's permit, was practicing parallel parking with her mother standing by the car and watching. The two had even set up cones in the street, Honecker said.

Several neighbors told investigators that the girl was trying to back up when she pressed down on the accelerator, and the car went back onto the curb and struck the woman, Honecker said.

Police were called almost immediately, but the woman was pronounced dead a short time later.

While the family's name was not released Thursday, Honecker did note that the girl's father had been notified and came to the scene to take his daughter away.

Police closed streets in the area to traffic. Officers at the scene referred all questions to the Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities didn't know Thursday night if the family lived in the area where the accident happened or if the mother and daughter were just using the streets to practice driving.

In addition to police and prosecutor's investigators, the Monmouth County's Serious Collision Analysis Response Team was assisting in the investigation.

[sachmo71]

Definitely embarrassing, no question. Does your GF still give you grief about it?


Actually, I'm not sure if she remembers. It's been a long time and we're not together anymore.

What was more embarassing was that I was so much in shock that I never actually apologized for it, even to her dad. I just sat there, not believing what happened. He looked at me, and I just sort of shrugged.

What a dumbass.

The worst part was that her loudmouth uncle from Atlantic City was visiting. HE probably still laughs about it. :)

[dawgfan]

Another tale of wrong petal at the wrong time (heard it on the news at lunch)

Ouch. That poor girl...