Comments on: Man Loses Car He Just Parked

By: Skipweasel

Skipweasel — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:38:11 +0000

tt:- If he left the wheel turned it’ll roll in a curve, of course. And what’s more, the castoring of the wheels won’t work going backwards – in fact they’ll swing more towards the side they’re already facing.

By: tt

tt — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:43:49 +0000

i don’t get it.. if the truck is just kinda rolling away, shouldn’t it roll straight? it went straight then fully turned.. so it’s stolen??

By: MaiQ

MaiQ — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:01:39 +0000

Transformers? haha

By: nihil

nihil — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:15:02 +0000

I had a friend who owned a manual trans car and would leave it it first and be fine except once it did not go so well. He parked, got out and the car was on just a slight enough incline that it rolled away across the street….into the lot of a car dealership. Then his car, sans driver, hit another car on the lot. The police got a good chuckle out of trying to fill out an accident report involving two cars and no drivers.

By: renderanything

renderanything — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:37:47 +0000

I should have read the article first. Like Lara said, he left the parking brake on, and claims he left the trans in 1st, but that would have killed the engine when he let his foot off the clutch. Sounds like his e-brake is improperly adjusted, or if it has rear drum brakes, then they are pretty worn and the self-adjusters haven’t kept up with the wear.

By: renderanything

renderanything — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:53:06 +0000

Polx and Josh, it looks like it was probably a manual trans equipped little Ranger and he didn’t set the E-brake, just left it in neutral.
The parking spot was on a slight grade, so the truck started rolling back on it’s own with the help of gravity.

By: Wok

Wok — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:15:58 +0000

@ oomi, awesome

By: Badjuk

Badjuk — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:40:55 +0000

Sorry but… only in USA.

By: Oomi

Oomi — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:51:46 +0000

Cocaine is a helluva drug.

By: Jen Diggity

Jen Diggity — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:06:43 +0000

My next-door neighbor once pulled into her driveway and got out of her Suburban to unlock her gate. She left the vehicle running and with her 2 year old in the truck…out of his car seat. He knocked the shifter into reverse and the truck did some sort of bizarre half-loop (the steering wheel was juuust right): out her driveway, into the street, and then u-turned into MY driveway and backed into the side of my awesome truck that I loved SO much and totaled it.

And we live on a street that used to have semis and heavy equipment running up and down it all the time, not to mention the people in regular cars who often speed. I was sad to see my truck so hurt, but geesh it could have been MUCH worse.

By: Polx

Polx — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:12:31 +0000

So he leaves an automatic in reverse with the keys in and the doors unlocked and the engine running?

SO it drove away?

I am not that familiar with the useless and lazy world of Aurtomatics but the capacity for it to drive away on it’s own is bizarre.

By: ted

ted — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:20:34 +0000

I couldn’t be bothered. It was more interesting two years ago when it was the dog who moved the truck.

By: LaraAtHome

LaraAtHome — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:18:11 +0000

If you follow the link, it says that the parking brake was on when the truck was found. It’s being checked by a mechanic. It’s also a manual transmission, so it’s not that he didn’t put the truck in park. Leaving the keys had nothing to do with it, although he’s certainly foolish to have done that.

By: seekshelter

seekshelter — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:42:44 +0000

ive seen my dad jump into someones truck to stop it from rolling into the street…oddly enough…it was also in front of a 7-11…

By: Dale

Dale — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:01:43 +0000

Do American cars not have a handbrake???

By: SenorMysterioso

SenorMysterioso — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:29:34 +0000

parking brake ftw

By: The El Bee En

The El Bee En — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:20:32 +0000

If you’ve ever had a car actually stolen from a parking lot it’s like you can’t really understand what happened to it. “I left it here, I think, now…it’s…gone!”
I HATE when that happens!

By: Alicia

Alicia — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:03:38 +0000

I’m astounded that the comments so far are so kind. He left his keys in the ignition, and the car in gear? Wha? How old is he?

By: DaveL

DaveL — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:01:41 +0000

Nothing neat about this and it’s already saturated the net. Sorry, but I gotta say that this place just turning into another link dump.

By: Courageous Grace

Courageous Grace — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:50:48 +0000

In Arlington, TX (and many other cities, I’m sure) it is illegal to leave your keys in the ignition when you leave your car unattended. That way, when your car gets stolen, YOU get a fine for your stupidity and the cops *might* find your car.

I knew a guy when I was in college who was a kleptomaniac. Let’s call him “Fred”. He was in a parking lot one day and saw a guy get out of his fancy new car with the engine running. The dumbass goes into a dry-cleaning shop and watches while Fred jumps into the car and drives it off. Of course Fred does get arrested for auto theft but the dumbass who left the engine running got a $500 fine.

By: shecky

shecky — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:49:02 +0000

The truck did that on purpose to teach the moron a lesson.

By: VonSkippy

VonSkippy — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 05:35:46 +0000

“I just thank God it didn’t hurt anyone,” Otero said.

I blame God for making such a moron.

By: LisaL

LisaL — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 05:09:02 +0000

What an idiot. I mean the truck starts reversing while the guy is still freakin getting out of it and he still didn’t think anything was wrong? Geeze…. He better be glad that no one got hurt.

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:01:40 +0000

There is a reason you should take your keys with you. It forces you to put the vehicle in park to remove them.

I say you should be given a $50 ticket for leaving the keys of your vehicle in your car if you park in a parking spot without anyone in the vehicle and you are not around it.

By: birdie1

birdie1 — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:01:30 +0000

i have a habit of that myself. sometimes in the morning i cant find my keys and find them in my truck.

By: violet

violet — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:59:18 +0000

Yeah, I think it might serve people well to spend at least a little time living in a city where it’s a no brainer to lock your car (and turn off the ignition and take keys, obviously). I lock my car even if I’m just going around to the other side to fill up with gas.

Anything can happen. Lather, rinse, repeat.

By: ragazzambulante

ragazzambulante — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:44:09 +0000

does it not look like he goes back in and comes back out like, “okay, i’m just imagining, and if i try this again, the car will be there…..”

By: Frau

Frau — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:42:36 +0000

There are people who still leave their keys in the ignition and doors unlocked?
Idiot.

By: Johnny Cat

Johnny Cat — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:37:42 +0000

How odd that it slipped around into the next block, out of sight. It’s like a Pixar story or something!

By: beckster

beckster — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:29:13 +0000

That is so creepy!