I guess he wanted a drive-through bakery

[An Haddock]

I can't believe I forgot to post this... happened 3 weeks ago at a nearby bakery.


Seems they have this old guy who (used to be) a regular customer.

The bakery in question is on a corner. The old guy was parked in front of the bakery. He slams the car in reverse and guns the engine, going backwards and actually turning so he went into the side street. His car hops the curb, manages to miss both a fire hydrant and one of those huge concrete planters you see in some towns, misses a street sign, and plows right into the side of the bakery.

He missed hitting the owner's brother by a couple of feet. If the guy hadn't just stepped away from a mixer to do something, he would have been crushed between the car and an oven.

When they pulled the old guy from the car, he still had his foot on the gas. Couldn't tell which peddle was which. Plus they said he was all doped up on several different medications and should not have been driving. Yesterday I stopped in and they said his license had been taken away.

In the meantime, there's a car-sized hole in the side of their building covered with plywood.


In case you can't quite picture the U-turn this old fellow managed to pull off, here's a diagram:

[Ophbalance]

Dear lord, I'm hoping he wasn't driving a Toyota... or else the "accidental acceleration" nuts will have another field day.

[EricKei]

I had not heard of the Toyota version of this

Ford had a similar issue back in the 80s and 90s (caused by a thin bit of metal that would melt and then fuse the Cruise control mechanism at maximum power), and dealt with it in a similar way: blaming the customers, and denial. Took years for them to finally admit it, and for the same reasons -- one too many deaths/lawsuits to ignore. 20/20 or 60 minutes (et al) even showed segments about it every few years until they fixed the problem. On the one I saw, they intentionally melted the bit of metal, and then turned on the (vacant) car, which was suspended a few feet in the air. As soon as the engine turned on, the CC kicked in, and the accelerator floored itself. Rather fascinating, in a troubling sort of way.

[Ophbalance]

I had not heard of the Toyota version of this

A few years ago an off duty police officer rented a Lexus sedan. The rental place, in a fit of pure stupidity, put an all weather mat on top of the normal installed mats. The all weather mat jammed the accelerator into floor. Due to a series of unfortunate events; not familiar with the push button start, or the shifter nob, nor the affects of brake fade, the pour souls on board hit an immovable object at almost triple digit speeds.

So out of the woodwork comes everyone and their brother claiming that THEIR Toyota's have the same problem! Except... one small issue. Most of these folks coming forward were driving a Prius. And it is IMPOSSIBLE for the same thing to occur. If you floor the brake in that model, any of that line, it will disengage the engine from the transmission and apply full braking force to the wheels. For shits and giggles I tried and nearly lost the pizza I was carrying home at the time into the passenger seat floor. And once that brake is mashed to the floor the engine will simply not re-engage.

In the end, most of the "unintended acceleration" complaints turned out to be either fraud attempts AND/OR older folks that just mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake (much like what the OP describes).

[Captain Trips]

A few years ago an off duty police officer rented a Lexus sedan. The rental place, in a fit of pure stupidity, put an all weather mat on top of the normal installed mats. The all weather mat jammed the accelerator into floor. Due to a series of unfortunate events; not familiar with the push button start, or the shifter nob, nor the affects of brake fade, the pour souls on board hit an immovable object at almost triple digit speeds.

Actually, they didn't hit an immovable object, they went over the edge of the road. Happened less than ten miles from my home, at CA 125 and Mission Gorge Road in Santee, CA, here:

[Gilhelmi]

I feel bad for that old man. It is not an easy transition going into that age, and the medications are horrible.

I hope the bakery is able to fix everything.