"Driver 'double-parks' in supermarket car park"
"A driver caused panic in a busy supermarket car park on Monday when he lost control of his vehicle and ended up parked on top of another car"
Honda Civic automatic.
From "The Daily Telegraph": tinyurl.com/5g2yrh
Sounds faintly unlikely!
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Am I wrong in thinking that this sort of thing happens more with autos?
Is it something to do with pedal layout or the age of the owners or do a similar amount of accidents of this type happen to manuals too?
Just wondered.
Steve.
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Thats an interesting question Steve. I wonder whether its `easy` to put a Honda civic auto into reverse by mistake? Compared with the larger `gate` and differential movement of the arm to engage reverse in a manual?
You could imagine that releasing the clutch on a manual, accidentally in reverse, would give an reaction to push the clutch back in too. While on an auto the instant reaction might be to press the `brake`. In other words, the `duality of the right foot.
In my own experience ( not referring to the OE post) in working with the early onset of cognitive impairment, I found that often people could drive cars and motorcycles without making mistakes. (long term memory intact) But that getting lost with the car or bike, near home was the major indicator of cognitive impairment.
Of course switching to an automatic post impairment will involve new learning and short term memories. ( rather than the memories and routine of 60 years of manual transmissions)
Vulnerabilities, could thus. possibly be enhanced, rather than reduced as the driver had intended.
Note, these are general comments and do not refer to the situation or driver involved in the OE link.
Regards
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"Of course switching to an automatic post impairment"
I should just clarify that. Switching to an auto a few years `before` cognitive impairment may also increase vulnerability to driver error with the onset. IMHO
Edited by oilrag on 03/06/2008 at 15:48
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One thing I have heard blamed before is the lack of a clutch pedal to disengage drive (but you can still brake!).
An ex-colleague of my Dads once 'bulldozed' a Datsun onto the pavement while trying to parallel park an automatic BMW 525. He had never driven an auto before and in a blind panic was trying to press the non-existent clutch pedal instead of going for the brake first.
Having said that, one of my schoolfriends at age 17 was once parking his manual Mk2 Escort on his parents sloping drive, his wet shoe slipped off the brake onto the accelerator and the car shot forward and demolished the double-glazed porch on the front of their house.
From the article:
"But it didn't take long before everyone saw the funny side and started to take pictures on their camera phones."
I bet everyone except the Citroen owner saw the funny side?
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I wonder if the Citroen driver was a bona fide disabled parker?
If so, full sympathies....if not i'd have a right old chuckle. Shame i'll never know.
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The picture on the right of the linked page is somewhat more shocking!
BIG
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