Back when the boys were little I decided we were going to go to the Dollar store just to have a break from the gloomy grey winter days. The Dollar store was 30 miles away in another county. At about 20 miles out I ran into a localized ice storm (really it was just misting out). It was black ice and we had the fun of doing a couple 360s before hitting dry pavement again. Since we were pointed toward the store I just kept going. We stayed an extra hour until I heard on the radio that the salt trucks had been deployed.
My only other “oops” moment was when I took the boys to the drive-in. We had left early so we could grab some KFC to take in with us. But early was way too early and they hadn’t unlocked the gates yet. Since my then station wagon was pointed directly West and it was high summer I decided to back up to the left and pull forward on the other street to where there were some trees and shade.
Later, when other people were showing up I decided to get back in line. I had to back up and managed to do that fine. It was when I pulled back into the actual drive-in lane that I messed up. And ended up with my driver’s side front tire in the tiny ditch. It was so small that my front bumper was resting on the other side. No amount of gunning or rocking worked. Finally I went up to a guy in a truck and asked if he would pull us out. He was worried he might pull off my bumper but I assured him if he had it was no big deal*. I just wanted it pulled out so I was no longer blocking the road and… it was so embarrassing. Luckily there were towing straps in the back of the wagon and the guy only had to do one jerk.
10 minutes later my husband pulled up (as planned) and I had the fun of explaining that to him. I couldn’t not tell him because of course the first things out of the boys’ mouths was “Guess what mom did?”
*I had bought the wagon from my sister for $300 and had already had it for a year. If my mechanic aka Mistermage couldn’t replace/fix the bumper, well, I had my money’s worth from it. It was later sold to a friend who used it in demo derbies.
I have a story which isn’t really about an accident, but which does qualify as stupid.
The first car I ever owned had electric windows, but it also had electrical problems. So, for example, sometimes the window control would stop working. When the electrical system starting acting up one of the frequent problems is that the passenger side window would only go down a few inches and would then stop. It would go up fine, but would only go down a few inches.
One night I was at red light, getting increasingly annoyed that the window wouldn’t go down all the way, when for some reason I decided that the best way to make it start working would be to push down on the window while activating the up switch. It was the passenger window, so I had to reach all the way across the passenger seat, put the my left hand on top of the window, and activate the up switch with my right hand. Well, the window went up fine. And it didn’t go down.
This may not be clear, so let me describe the situation: my car was at a red light, late at night. I was buckled in to the driver’s seat. My left arm was stretched across my body and the fingers of my left hand were trapped between the top of the window and the frame on the passenger side of the car. I had absolutely no leverage so I couldn’t force the window down. I couldn’t pull my fingers out. And I couldn’t get the seatbelt release to work so I couldn’t get out of my seat. I was fucked.
Luckily eventually some people were walking by, figured something was wrong, and came over to the window to force it down. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t make eye contact with them, just thanked them and drove off as soon as I could.
My dad was giving me driving lessons and he told me to put my right foot on the gas and left foot on the brakes . I tried to tell dad that my driving instructor
told the class never to drive this way b/c we could step on the gas instead of the brakes. Dad said “Shut up and do it!” So I backed up out of our driveway and stopped at end of it to check for traffic , however I got confused using both feet and stepped on the gas and went flying into some bushes that were the middle or our street. I said to dad " I told you so "! That was the one and only lesson dad gave me , thanks goodness! When he drove we got sick b/c he kept stepping in the brakes while driving . The car didn’t get hurt but the bushes did.
Driving thru Akron on the freeway in an old International Travel-all pulling a box trailer. My 2 dogs, 1 small terrier and a Dobie, snoring in the back of the International. Back door (it was a ramp) of the trailer comes open, slamming down on the pavement and then loud drag noises while I try to come to a stop. Hysterical dogs, both of them, jump on my lap and pee all over me. I try to get over and bang the International into the guard rail. I think my ex-husband was an asshole for yelling at me. Probably why the ex-.
Just a week ago, jumped into a cab in Vegas for the airport. Driver proceeds to make a U-turn without looking. I hear a horn and feel a thump. No harm to me, or the driver, but his cab was pretty much out of service for a while. I quick got another cab and we’re halfway to the airport when the new cab driver informs me that I was legally supposed to stay on site of the accident. Oh well.
I had my deaf Grand-dad in the passenger seat of my pickup, the driver’s window is open and I am in a left turn lane on a busy street. I am watching the guy coming at me in his pickup truck in his left lane and thinking wow he’s close when he hits the big mirror (you know those big square ones for towing) and it flies in the open window. On me. Whereupon I start screaming so loud that even Grand-dad heard me–not hurt, just really really pissed off.
Yep. and you’re one guy. How about “common”, is that better? In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, I’m talking about misjudging a parking space next to a cement wall in a parking garage.
Heh. So everyone here who has minor accidents which hurt no one but scrape a little plastic is a really bad driver and shouldn’t be allowed to drive?! Right.
I don’t claim to be an excellent driver but minor scrapes and dings don’t make one unqualified to drive.
