# Why do people keep crashing their cars into buildings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495 "2017-12-04T00:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/1 "2017-12-04T00:05:07Z")
This happens in my area about once or twice a week. Some idiot will crash their car into a building often causing very serious damage. Buildings do not move or suddenly appear, so I don’t understand why people can’t seem to stop crashing into them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/2 "2017-12-04T00:11:13Z")
Drunk, not paying attention /eating/ drinking, dropped [item], playing with radio/CD, cell phone , [del]smart[/del]dumbassphone. ETA: What kind of area? Downtown, suburb? Straight street, slight bend? Well lit or dark? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/3 "2017-12-04T00:11:21Z")
Smart Phones probably have a lot to do with it followed by drunk driving and drowsy driving. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/4 "2017-12-04T00:11:54Z")
I will mention, I am asking about accidental/reckless crashes. AFAIK, none in my area have been deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/5 "2017-12-04T00:22:06Z")
Mixing up the brake and accelerator, as well as forward with reverse, are two other common reasons. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/6 "2017-12-04T00:25:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Drunk, not paying attention /eating/ drinking, dropped [item], playing with radio/CD, cell phone , [del]smart[/del]dumbassphone. > ETA: What kind of area? Downtown, suburb? Straight street, slight bend? Well lit or dark? That, plus the occasional case where the driver has a heart attack or some other medical event. And every once in a while, a driver attempting to avoid a road hazard that IS moving, like a kid that just ran out into the street from behind a parked car. But I’d agree that various forms of chemical impairment and distracted driving are probably the main reasons. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/7 "2017-12-04T00:31:05Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Drunk, not paying attention /eating/ drinking, dropped [item], playing with radio/CD, cell phone , [del]smart[/del]dumbassphone. > ETA: What kind of area? Downtown, suburb? Straight street, slight bend? Well lit or dark? I should have it happens that often in my town, but retail stores are almost always the buildings that get hit. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/8 "2017-12-04T00:32:25Z")
Driving too fast and not enough time to stop? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/9 "2017-12-04T00:36:28Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > This happens in my area about once or twice a week. Some idiot will crash their car into a building often causing very serious damage. Buildings do not move or suddenly appear, so I don’t understand why people can’t seem to stop crashing into them. Cheer Up! 🙂 They _also_ crash into trees. And rocks. And other cars! :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/10 "2017-12-04T00:42:39Z")
Watched a guy flat out miss an off ramp and drove into a grassy swamp this morning. Figure he was on his cell phone and was driving too fast to make the off ramp. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/11 "2017-12-04T00:44:50Z")
If the building wasn’t there they wouldn’t crash, they’d just keep going. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/12 "2017-12-04T01:02:44Z")
My MIL drove into her kitchen at the end of the garage one afternoon. She couldn’t or wouldn’t explain it. I always thought she wanted a kitchen redo, but who knows. The woman was a little whacky. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/13 "2017-12-04T01:17:34Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I should have it happens that often in my town, but retail stores are almost always the buildings that get hit. That’s because (a) the retail stores are on the ground floor, and (b) the retail stores tend to dominate on the busy commercial streets with lots of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/14 "2017-12-04T01:23:44Z")
The buildings stubbornly refuse to get out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/15 "2017-12-04T01:26:19Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > The buildings stubbornly refuse to get out of the way. If they don’t like the way people drive, they shouldn’t stand so close to the road. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/16 "2017-12-04T01:34:08Z")
The restaurant Pizza d’Action regularly gets a car in the dining room. I haven’t kept up since my Grandmother’s death, but a certain house in her block also regularly got a car in the living room. I dated a girl in the neighborhood, and her Father said that it was a one way street, “so they can get a running start at it.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/17 "2017-12-04T01:39:21Z")
The man who lived across the street from us came home drunk from a Mardis Gras party, backed carefully into his driveway, then shifted into D instead of P, stepped on the gas instead of the brake, and plowed right into the front of our house. If you’re wondering what it sounds like from the inside, it’s like a door slamming so loudly the entire house shakes with added notes of breaking glass and stuff being knocked over. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/18 "2017-12-04T01:47:23Z")
Buildings are easier to hit than pedestrians? … Are there mine tailings upstream from your community’s water supply that are leeching lead? … ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/19 "2017-12-04T01:48:00Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > That’s because (a) the retail stores are on the ground floor, and (b) the retail stores tend to dominate on the busy commercial streets with lots of traffic. And a car crashing into a retail store is more newsworthy than a car crashing into the driver’s own house. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495/20 "2017-12-04T01:50:57Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I should have it happens that often in my town, but retail stores are almost always the buildings that get hit. Retail stores are typically built much closer to the street (or parking lot), and will have many more people driving close to them. Houses and apartments are typically built further back, giving errant drivers more chance to miss. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-keep-crashing-their-cars-into-buildings/803495.md?page=2)