more worst fears, running yourself over!
 

I'm driving down my street at 15 mph, watching out for pedestrians and such, I hear a whistle.

I see an elderly neighbor waving me down. I pull over, shut down the truck. he proceeds to tell me his wife didnt put her Chevy Yukon in P, and was standing in the doorway of her vehicle. she is very old and has that spine situation that has her bent way over and a touch to the side. well, despite the level street, the vehicle moved, knocked her down and rolled over her leg smashing the tib-fib. (I think she left it in R!! but it wasn't the right place to debate the cause). I just listened.

the old dude is effen stressed!!! they have home care now, thankfully, but he said the nurse talks to much. I suggested he just walk away, and let the guy do his thing.

he said he doesnt cook. errrr..

I am making Japanese Curry, and some Italian Sunday Gravy now. I plan on loading him up for the week. I need to relocate closer to the junior College!! my entire block is elderly!!

I told my grocery clerk the story, and she got me a stack of food containers. YES!!

imagine running your own ass over? WTF?

this is my second similar event..first time was horrific and I still have nightmares.

Falling out of a perfectly good boat off the bow is right up there on disasters.

Vash, the oldster whisperer...

Do you think that all of the old folks in his neighborhood have a what'sapp group so they can work out the scheduling of their Cliff-resource?

Running over yourself would suck for sure. Don't forget that Anton Yelchin died that way, and Jeremy Renner nearly died that way. I am sure that we've all seen the videos of folks that jump out of their car to gripe or rage at someone on the street while forgetting to shift out of drive. In some ways it's surprising that more old folks don't run over themselves. I think it would be very easy to get out of a car as an old person while forgetting or failing to put the car in park.

I rolled over my oldest's foot about couple years ago on the way to driving them to school. He was screaming and I felt this slight lump. BAd thing was, I stopped for a second and roll off it . He is completely OK. Scared the hell out of me. This was in his 20 year old 4 runner, a much lighter truck then modern vehicles thank goodness. Talked to a friend and he tells me that these thing happens all the time and most people are perfectly fine from it. Crazy.

Ok, here’s my story…..

It’s 1999 and I bought my first new vehicle, a Dodge Ram quad cab 4WD on a Saturday. Monday morning I back out of the garage, noticed I left the interior door open, so pull back into the garage. Put in park, jump out of the car, only for the truck to start rolling back. Numb nuts me got knocked down by the door and I was trying to hit the brake pedal but couldn’t. The open door hit the divider between the two garage doors and bent the snot out of it. Fortunately, I ended up between the truck and the divider. Also, it’s good thing it didn’t go to the right and hit my 911.

We took it to the Dodge dealer body repair shop, the guy took one look at it and said you hit the garage door with it didn’t you? That made me feel a little better, but not much.

When I got to work in my old 86 Nissan hardbody, everybody wanted to know where my new truck was. Everybody got a good laugh that morning.

I'm sure we've all seen this genius

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Its ok man. Happened to this dumb ass too. I backed up and forgotten that I went to get a couple bags of groceries for my parents, left the door open as I dropped off their stuff and decided to back out of their driveway. I hit a hedge that divided our houses. Had a big crease on the edge of the door. It was never fixed, since I was in college, only my girlfriend rode in that truck. She was strong and young, so yanking that door in place wasn't a big deal. It leak cold air like hell driving across Canada in the middle of Christmas.

I assume you meant to say that you thought you put it in park?

Why does this only happens to truck owners:)

I was pushing a Vega, door open and pushing the A pillar and ran over my foot with the back tire. I expected broken bones but it didnt even hurt. Sometimes a guy just gets lucky.

You're a good man and a good neighbor, Vash.

When I was in the 6th grade my carpool driver accidentally ran me over on her first day of driving carpool. She was driving an Olds Custom Cruiser (this was in the late 80s), I was the last kid getting in (back seat, not way-back), she thought I was all the way in when I only had one leg in, she rolled out, I fell back and she ran over my other leg. Big commotion ensues but she doesn’t know what for, so she puts it in reverse and runs over it again.

My leg was flat on the ground and kids are made of rubber, so I didn’t suffer anything more than tire tracks on my leg. The ambulance ride, etc. was fun. Lying in the back, I asked the EMT if the (Ford) ambulance had a small block or a big block.

That’s how the new Checkov from Star Trek died, be careful around your vehicles.

In my mind it was in park! 😂

I have the initials of some dude tattooed on my arm. I was first on the scene after he was run over by his own truck when it didn't go into park. Obviously he didn't survive the event.

I was parked in a parking spot at a building, and it was a spot that had some tilt to it, making you roll backwards. He came in and wanted my spot, I tried to wave him on because I wasn't ready to leave the parking lot yet, but he insisted. So, I back out, drive around the corner and park.
A minute later, I hear this howl, and see a woman walking through the parking lot making an absolutely unholy sound.
It was his wife.
He pulled into that spot, and didn't catch park correctly. When he stepped out, his truck started rolling back. The front wheel caught his foot, then rolled up leg, over his torso, grazed his neck and crushed part of his skull. This was a big Dodge dually pickup. several thousand pounds. His wife watched as he got pulled under. Then she started screaming.


I ran over, expecting trouble, but not expecting that. It's amazing how quickly things went south. I had victim's trauma for a few months because I was convinced that if I had been more of a jerk and waved him on, he woulda parked somewhere else and would be alive today.

Ended up with the dude in my arms, breathing through his eye socket (the eye wasn't there anymore), and dying. Messed me up pretty good for a while.

Once it happens to you, you'll notice how many news stories talk about similar events. Like, at least once a month, in your area. Lots of people get eaten by their own vehicles.

Fords in the 60s had a habbit of jumping from park to reverse if you slammed the door just right. They did a thing about it on 60 Minutes, I think. I also witnessed it in person one day while sitting at a traffic light. Guy pulled up to the gas pump and got out of his truck. All of a sudden it took off in reverse going in circles that kept getting bigger. He chased it around the pumps a few times before getting in and turning it off.

I remembered that someone on this forum had a gnarly story of a guy's PU truck running him over but I could not remember who it was. Now I know. It's amazing how quickly things can get away from you with a rolling vehicle that weighs a couple of tons or more.

I also don't understand why people don't use their parking brake. I use it almost always when any vehicle I'm driving is parked. Level ground...doesn't matter. I had an old childhood friend visiting me last year and I loaned him one of my cars, old Mercedes diesel. I'm giving him the 10 cent tour of the controls in the car and I show him the parking brake release. He asks me, "when do I use that?" :rolleyes:

"Every time you park the car," I tell him. He's 65 years old and has been just throwing cars in "Park" and walking away for 50 years, even on slopes. I give him the whole lecture about how the parking prawl on an automatic transmission works, how a good driver engages the parking brake before letting the vehicle rest on the prawl, etc...

He's nodding but I know that he thinks I'm crazy or something. I ask him if when he parks on a hill, can he feel the car *bounce* on the transmission lock and does he notice that it feels like something is going to break when he takes it out of "Park?" He actually says that yes, he has noticed those things, it just never occurred to his unmechanical brain that he was doing anything wrong.

I'm a bit strict when it comes to the subject and I almost always use the PB when I park anything. The floor of my shop is so level that we can roll cars around and not even put them in gear or use the brake and they will not roll but anywhere outside, I use it. It's a good practice and your car or truck will never run you over.

The bottom line...

Since 1999 and my close call, I’ve been using the parking brake every time I stop my truck*. I had a guy asked me why I did that and I told him the story.

*All vehicles actually.

wow. dropped off some stuff today. she is in a wheelchair for sure. if I'm being honest, she looks pretty good!! alert, feisty, good. she lost a ton of weight.

she was eating animal crackers for dinner. I took those from her and put hot pasta in front of her.

I left. they do have the fattest black lab I have ever seen in my life. zero doubt, he is a record holder. small lab, so crazy fat. looks kinda sad actually. I bet that lab lives have its lifespan.

It's such a "why not?" thing that can become a good habit, like putting on your seatbelt. Like, why not do it? It costs nothing in terms of time and it's one less thing to worry about, namely your vehicle rolling.

Also, being a mechanical sort, it's like fingernails on a blackboard to me when someone parks on a slope and just throws it in "Park." The whole car or PU truck usually bounces back and forth until it settles on the parking prawl in the transmission. I've had to explain to at least one dim friend that you need to set the brake BEFORE you release the foot/main brake on a slope, it doesn't help matters to set the parking brake after resting the entire weight on the trans.

Not too hard to put a dog on a diet, it's not like they can run out to the ice cream parlor at night or eat half a turkey unless someone gives it to them. :)

I heard about this guy. Earlier this year actually. 911SC, heavens forbid.

He had it on a hoist without the parking brake or in gear. And when he let it down it started rolling backwards with the drivers door open. He tried to stop it but couldn't and leapt out of the way just before the window frame would have crushed him against the garage door surround.

He was fine but a bit upset and the car needed a new window frame, and the window glass re-glued back in the window rail.

Be careful out there! I was driving several vehicles I wasn't really familiar with a few months back... thought I had one in park and it began to roll back as I was getting out... almost hit an 83 yr old "sweetheart" that held me as a baby ....

Parking brakes? I freakin' hate these damn "button brakes" ... in a totally strange vehicle ... not obvious either.

Round button shift knobs?

Get off my lawn!

I can't win a "stare down" contest wif mine .... I usually cave when she "cops a 'tude" ... a game she usually wins ;)

She has "green eyes" ... I can't help it ... :D

Some Labs are smart enough to open the fridge...

That's great news that she's doing better than you expected and that you were able to help them out! You've got karma in surplus for sure! You're practically PPOT Mother Theresa!

A good friend, a great guitarist, stalled his van on a slight incline and in the process of trying to push it off the road, it rolled backward into a ditch and crushed him. RIP Hans.

EVERYTHING can change in an instant ... as I get older I am becoming acutely aware of this... for better or worse :(.

Condolences John...

When my Dad was 84, he started up the Massey 135 to clean up bit of snow in the door yard. Since his eyes had no near vision after his cataract surgery, he couldn't read the fuel guage. To check the level of fuel in the tank, he turned to get a wrench out of the fender mounted tool box. That was when he kicked the range gear lever into Low and the sudden motion of the tractor knocked him off, onto the concrete floor of the basement garage. The tractor crawled ahead, running over his ankle, and hip. He managed to twist his upper body and arm out of the way of the rear wheel.
The local volunteer fire department got him to the hospital and within an hour of the accident, he was in surgery to repair some of the damage. The fractured pelvis had to heal over time and he expressed regret later they hadn't been able to repair the torn ligaments in his right ankle. The next spring he was on the hill across the road cutting bushes. He lived to see 94.

@Pazuzu. I wish I hadn't read that. Thanks. You know, there's a place for everything and this isn't.