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I am 99.9% sure that FIL has pressed the wrong pedal. Now is the time to have a quiet word and sort out an arrangement before he injures someone or worse. This type of accident is more common than you might think.
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Why is it always people over the age of 65 who have this issue of their automatic suddenly careering off. hmmm, me, cyncial? never.
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"Why is it always people over the age of 65 who have this issue of their automatic suddenly careering off. hmmm, me, cyncial? never."
My uncle demolished a wall in an automatic at 67, my father at 75 was driving a manual until we persuaded him the 3 accidents a year meant he was dangerous.
Comes with old age. happens to us all. You will not be cynical when you start forgetting things and losing your powers of concentratin...
madf
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Happened to my dad during a driving lesson. Pupil on main road was T boned by a car coming out of a side road. Driver was over 80 and had just received a Pug 307 auto on mobility. He admitted he'd never driven an auto before.
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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4215...m
A heartbreaking story
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Let me get this right - damaged six cars? As previously stated he has obviously floored the accelerator to shoot off at such a speed - the length of six cars alone must be what - say 70 feet plus?!
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Let me get this right - damaged six cars?
>>As previously stated he has obviously floored the accelerator to shoot off at such a speed -
>>the length of six cars alone must be what - say 70 feet plus?!
>>
Not impossible if you are just scraping down the sides.
A few years ago I was in a rush hour queue probably doing 10mph ish. A 3 litre Volvo in the queue rammed a transit motor caravan behind me which then rammed me,in a Triumph 2000 and I destroyed the rear hatch of a Merc estate.
Volvo driver said brakes failed.
The traffic lads surmised the Volvo driver hit the gas instead of brakes. They tested the brakes at the scene and they worked OK.
The Triumph was an instant write off. Boot, bonnet, doors distorted, radiator holed etc etc.
I was astounded at the damage at such low speed.
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A heartbreaking story
As posted by ChrisR a bit further up this thread.
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Sorry. Must have missed that post
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It doesn't have to be an auto. If someone floors the throttle on a manual car and 'loses' it, the outcome will be the same. I was the 'victim' of one such incident in a supermarket car park, some years ago. The driver of the vehicle (an old lady) ended up going across a road, verge and pavement, and finally through a garage wall, coming to rest against the adjacent wall of the house. All this was done, miraculously, without hitting any person or other vehicle, apart from my own, which only incurred minor damage (she just clipped the nearside rear wing).
She must have travell'ed a minimum of 150 yards.
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Over the years I and a lot of my friends, colleagues, etc. have made stupid errors when behind the wheel and I'm not fifty yet. It seems rather unfair to suggest this only happens to geriatrics.
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And it seems rather silly to deny the obvious
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"the obvious" Being that it does only happen to geriatrics....
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I think the obvious is that the geriatric are more prone to it.
Young people do it, only last night I almost drove into a parked car whilst getting into a tight gap and for some unknown reason letting the clutch out when still in first gear and lurching forward a couple of feet, fortunately I very quickly dipped the clutch and stamped on the brake.
An old person, having made the same mistake, would be far less likely, in general, to be able to recover the situation and avoid a smash.
Blue
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"An old person, having made the same mistake, would be far less likely, in general, to be able to recover the situation and avoid a smash."
I can't think why that should be? (Excepting those with medical conditions which should exclude them from driving anyway!) What age is "old"?
I don't want to drag this into an age discussion, but younger drivers make far more spectacular but mostly less newsworthy mistakes, usually around the poor judgement/excessive speed/aggressive driving area. As an "older" (not yet "old"!) driver, I could go on endlessly about the number of times that accidents have only been avoided because of foresight or avoidance action taken by a more experienced driver.
Maybe the Rover driver will graduate from a Rover 75 to a electric buggy... :-)
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"An old person, having made the same mistake, would be far less likely, in general, to be able to recover the situation and avoid a smash." I can't think why that should be? (Excepting those with medical conditions which should exclude them from driving anyway!)
So you don't think that people in their seventies have a generally slower reaction time than they did when they were in their twenties? Surely you can't be saying that people don't slow down as they get older, certainly my elderly relatives have, and that is by their own admission.
My 72 year old gran says she couldn't switch to an auto now as she no longer has the reaction times to respond if she were to press the wrong pedal.
What age is"old"?
>>
Why is there always someone who wants to nitpick over every godforsaken detail? I tried to keep it as general as possible, I appreciate that not EVERYONE's reactions slow, that's why I said "in general". What I should have said was "older" instead of "old".
Blue
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Point taken Blue - didn't mean to nitpick. I'm fast approaching 50 (November), so am a bit sensitive to age & ageism right now!!
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Don't worry, I'm sure 50 will be fine. I do know how you feel though, I occasionally have panic attack when I reaise that I am now (just) over half way towards 40. :-( One of my older friends has recently celebrated her "twenty-tenth" birthday, she came up with the idea in a desperate attempt to hold off being thirty for just one more year. She is under the impression that once she hits thirty she has to "settle down" and she doesn't want that!
I suppose according to Renault she has to go out and buy a Laguna when she hits 40! :-)
Blue
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Hm.. I never worried about 30 when I was 29, nor 40 when 39 nor 50 when 49 and now when I'm 58 I'm still not worried.
Mind you I feel that in another 20 years time I might have to drive an automtic again 'cos my reflexes may have slowed down and my co-ordination will have suffered.
I think Renault's ads relate to ladies' posteriors getting larger with age but I haven't quite worked out the ad's meaning yet. Is it meant to sell cars? :-)
madf
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Got my goona at 48. But then I was slow to potty train as well.
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My 72 year old gran says she couldn't switch to an auto now as she no longer has the reaction times to respond if she were to press the wrong pedal.
So what would she do if she pressed the wrong pedal in manual car?
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Well then she has a clutch so that makes it ok apparently!
Basically she's read too many scare stories where older people have shot off cliffs etc. etc. and she's convinced that if she gets one it will be spawned by the devil or something :-)
Blue
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Well then she has a clutch so that makes it ok apparently!
If she thinks she will get confused by two pedals, what makes her think she will be better with three?
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Without trying to oversimplify a complicated scenario I think it is fair to say that young people have speedy reactions and poor judgement and old people have good judgement and slower reactions.
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'It doesn't have to be an auto.'
True,but,as you have to have the clutch down,if it comes up suddenly there is a good chance of stalling,whereas an auto will go every time.
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