My neighbor, who is intelliegent, well-educated and generally a thoughtful, careful person of a rather conservative bent, parked his car in front of the house and ran inside for something. It was a quick stop off on the way to somewhere else. While inside for a few minutes he was distracted for a brief moment, and realized that his 4yo daughter was no longer next to him. He looked around the house for a bit and then thought that she sometimes crawled out the dog door and played in the car. So he looked outside and his car was gone.
Then he heard the <CRASH!>.
His daughter had climbed in his car and while trying to move the seat knocked it out of gear (it’s 5-speed manual). They live almost at the crest of a slight hill in the middle of the block. The car rolled backwards all the way down the street crossed an intersection grazed a telephone pole and hit a tree dead-on. His daughter was crying, of course, and was upset for maybe an hour. My kids and I came upon them just after it all happened. I helped clean up the glass and the kids played for probably an hour and a half till bedtime.
Like all good stories, this one has a lesson. ALWAYS USE YOUR PARKING BRAKE!!! IT’S THERE FOR A REASON!!!
Even intelligent thoughtful people can be in a rush and not do it. Make it a habit and you’ll do it without thinking.
(This isn’t really a rant, and I didn’t think it mundane or pointless, but if a mod deems otherwise, my apologies.)
I’ve had 2 cars hit by unattended vehicles left in neutral without the parking brake.
my husband’s parents live a ferry ride away. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen cars rolling a few inches forward, a few inches back with every little wave. Good thing they put chocks on the cars on the ramps.
I think your story has another lesson: Lock your car, even if you think its safe. It could have been any car parked there. Common sense isn’t part of a 4 year old’s day.
You also want to remember to turn your wheels toward the curb when parked facing downhill, away from the curb when parked facing uphill. If the car starts to move, the wheels will bump up against the curb, helping to prevent the car from moving very far.