Your most ridiculous motoring moment thread!
Discussion
Earlier this week I was thinking back to a moment of pure stupidity in my early driving days and it got me thinking that almost everyone must have a stupid motoring moment in their lives.
So this thread is here for you all to release the pain of that stupid moment and possibly gain some therapy from it. Also at the same time the rest of us can laugh at you and not feel so bad about our “idiot moments”.
Since I am starting this its only fare I share my own stupid moment so here it is.
Back in my early days of driving I owned a Lada Riva Estate 1.3 in cream. This wonderful machine would be parked opposite my parent’s house and often the guy down the street would park too close in his van making it very difficult to get out of my space. While performing the manoeuvre one afternoon I was conscious of the fact that I was quite close to my fathers car opposite so was focused on this. Suddenly there was a crunch and I realised that my rear quarter had caught the corner of the van.
Now common sense suggests selecting reverse and moving carefully around the van but at the time I think something popped in my head and I went into panic mode! Rather than stop I decided to rev the guts out of the car and try to drive off at full throttle. This resulted in smoking tyres and the sound of crunching panel as I dragged the car along the corner if the Transit! To make things worse my parents neighbour came out to see what was going on, I will never forget the look on his face or the heat I felt in mine when I saw him!! It didn’t stop me in my mission to free the car though it just made me give it more beans so I could escape the humiliation! I eventually got it un-stuck and drove off to a local car park to inspect the damage and consider how the hell it all happened!! It turns out my rear panel had been filled at some point and quite a bit of it was missing!
Very, very late that night I came home to inspect the van expecting BIB to be waiting but it was 100% fine, not even the neighbour mentioned it, he must have thought it was a dream or something!!
Feel free to share your moments!!
So this thread is here for you all to release the pain of that stupid moment and possibly gain some therapy from it. Also at the same time the rest of us can laugh at you and not feel so bad about our “idiot moments”.
Since I am starting this its only fare I share my own stupid moment so here it is.
Back in my early days of driving I owned a Lada Riva Estate 1.3 in cream. This wonderful machine would be parked opposite my parent’s house and often the guy down the street would park too close in his van making it very difficult to get out of my space. While performing the manoeuvre one afternoon I was conscious of the fact that I was quite close to my fathers car opposite so was focused on this. Suddenly there was a crunch and I realised that my rear quarter had caught the corner of the van.
Now common sense suggests selecting reverse and moving carefully around the van but at the time I think something popped in my head and I went into panic mode! Rather than stop I decided to rev the guts out of the car and try to drive off at full throttle. This resulted in smoking tyres and the sound of crunching panel as I dragged the car along the corner if the Transit! To make things worse my parents neighbour came out to see what was going on, I will never forget the look on his face or the heat I felt in mine when I saw him!! It didn’t stop me in my mission to free the car though it just made me give it more beans so I could escape the humiliation! I eventually got it un-stuck and drove off to a local car park to inspect the damage and consider how the hell it all happened!! It turns out my rear panel had been filled at some point and quite a bit of it was missing!
Very, very late that night I came home to inspect the van expecting BIB to be waiting but it was 100% fine, not even the neighbour mentioned it, he must have thought it was a dream or something!! Feel free to share your moments!!
I remember when I was 18, driving to Manchester (I lived in Leeds at the time). Looking for a mates student flat in the centre of Manchester, I drove down a busy one way street and needed to turn right at the end. The rest of the traffic was all in the left hand lane so I pulled in to the right hand lane and drove town to the traffic lights at the end of the road.
All of a sudden a double decker bus appears in front of me, beeping his horn and flashing his lights. I thought it was very strange that this bus driver was trying to drive the wrong way down a one way street.
Turns out it wasn't a one way street at all, and i'd just cut up about 30 cars. What an idiot I was, all those years ago.
All of a sudden a double decker bus appears in front of me, beeping his horn and flashing his lights. I thought it was very strange that this bus driver was trying to drive the wrong way down a one way street.
Turns out it wasn't a one way street at all, and i'd just cut up about 30 cars. What an idiot I was, all those years ago.
I have loads, 2 of the worst though..
1. in my 1st car, Mini, driving too fast late at night, lost back end, crunched rear quarter.. For some god unknown reason in anger at myself I jammed it forwards then reversed at high speed and smashed in the other side, wtf??!
2. In my Fiat X19, reversing back with door open lambo style thinking I looked cool (again, wtf!), didnt see a low wooden pole and bent door backwards. total berk!
1. in my 1st car, Mini, driving too fast late at night, lost back end, crunched rear quarter.. For some god unknown reason in anger at myself I jammed it forwards then reversed at high speed and smashed in the other side, wtf??!
2. In my Fiat X19, reversing back with door open lambo style thinking I looked cool (again, wtf!), didnt see a low wooden pole and bent door backwards. total berk!
I was driving home from 6th form college and had only recently having passed my driving test. I was about to turn into my parent’s driveway when I spotted two tasty sorts walking down the road towards me, seized by an abrupt sensation of machismo at being master of my own automobile, I totally misjudged the turn and ended up driving head on in to the fence post in full view of them.
Luckily I was able to correct my mistake and get on the driveway before they got any closer, and the only damage was a severely wounded ego.
Luckily I was able to correct my mistake and get on the driveway before they got any closer, and the only damage was a severely wounded ego.
Borrowed Dad's work pickup (Bedford KB), got back home, went to reverse it in to it's space at the end of the lane. Decided to see how long a skid I could produce by booting it in reverse. Got 30' of spinning until I hit the 4 tonne pile of logs at the end of the lane. Took me ages clearing the logs out from under the now balancing precariously pickup. Also had to get a new foglight and number plate for the thing. I forgot to account for braking. Whoops.
Ah, the things you learn when 17.
Ah, the things you learn when 17.
Not quite ridiculous, but stupid.
Where I am, the snow and ice have completely melted, but the roads are still a bit greasy and slippy. Last night on my way home, I purposely decided to enter a roundabout a bit too quickly just to see how much the Fiesta would understeer.
Err, a lot. So I lifted off, and ended up going round the roundabout at about 45 degrees off the normal angle. Then saw the kerb approaching at a vast rate of knots through the side window, so rammed the throttle down, and carried on going to my exit with a dab of oppo.
I'm sure the Fiat Doblo approaching the roundabout from the other side thought it was a fantastically heroic manoeuvre. Or not.
Although terrifying, it was easily the most fun I've had in a car on the road, but won't be trying to replicate it in a hurry.
Where I am, the snow and ice have completely melted, but the roads are still a bit greasy and slippy. Last night on my way home, I purposely decided to enter a roundabout a bit too quickly just to see how much the Fiesta would understeer.
Err, a lot. So I lifted off, and ended up going round the roundabout at about 45 degrees off the normal angle. Then saw the kerb approaching at a vast rate of knots through the side window, so rammed the throttle down, and carried on going to my exit with a dab of oppo.
I'm sure the Fiat Doblo approaching the roundabout from the other side thought it was a fantastically heroic manoeuvre. Or not.
Although terrifying, it was easily the most fun I've had in a car on the road, but won't be trying to replicate it in a hurry.
Edited by Deranged Granny on Thursday 9th December 15:16
Edited by Deranged Granny on Thursday 9th December 15:22
My 1st car was a fiesta and i parked it in a multi story car park about a week after purchase.
Parked floor 3a and i remember it well. Went and did shopping came back and couldnt get into my car. Tried turning my key, kicked wheel, tried central locking button and could hear it click but would not open.
A big bloke walked past me and got in to the giant 4 x 4 next to me ( think it was a mitsubishi in black ) and pulled away.
I huffed and pressed my unlock button and heard the beep again.
I had parked the other side of the frickin 4 x 4 and some one with the same colour, same black bumpers and same reg apart from 1 Effin number had parked the other side. So when i came up the stairs to the floor I could see what I thought was 'my' car ...
Felt a tool when I realised a few people had thought I was braking in or clearly mad as I was swearing so loudly. I got in my car and drove to the exit .... the bloke at the checkout til was in stitches so I guess he saw it all on CCTV.
I've never parked there again ...
Parked floor 3a and i remember it well. Went and did shopping came back and couldnt get into my car. Tried turning my key, kicked wheel, tried central locking button and could hear it click but would not open.
A big bloke walked past me and got in to the giant 4 x 4 next to me ( think it was a mitsubishi in black ) and pulled away.
I huffed and pressed my unlock button and heard the beep again.
I had parked the other side of the frickin 4 x 4 and some one with the same colour, same black bumpers and same reg apart from 1 Effin number had parked the other side. So when i came up the stairs to the floor I could see what I thought was 'my' car ...
Felt a tool when I realised a few people had thought I was braking in or clearly mad as I was swearing so loudly. I got in my car and drove to the exit .... the bloke at the checkout til was in stitches so I guess he saw it all on CCTV.
I've never parked there again ...
When I first got my current car, it was my first RWD so decided, coming around a bend, to see how much you can push before oversteer kicks in.
The result was coming off the road and going around the corner on the grass verge which was at 30 degrees or so. Doesn't sound that bad, but the driver on the other side of the road probably wasn't impressed by my wall of death attempt.
Incredibly stupid, but not repeated and also no damage, although it was a nightmare to get the long grass out from under the car.
The result was coming off the road and going around the corner on the grass verge which was at 30 degrees or so. Doesn't sound that bad, but the driver on the other side of the road probably wasn't impressed by my wall of death attempt.
Incredibly stupid, but not repeated and also no damage, although it was a nightmare to get the long grass out from under the car.
my stupidest moment come the day i passed my test, get home from test centre happy with passing my driving test, my saxo vtr is on the drive so a quick call to theinsurance guys and a few hundred quid later im insured. what does any 17 year old lad do? goes and picks his best mate up and goes on the prowl with some rediculous drum and bass thumping out of my french tissue car.
we spot two lovely ladies and give them the eye, unfortunatly i gave them the eye for a few seconds to long..... i voilated a skip lorry.
saxo lasted 2 hours......
we spot two lovely ladies and give them the eye, unfortunatly i gave them the eye for a few seconds to long..... i voilated a skip lorry.
saxo lasted 2 hours......
Driving back from a very long day in a very long month of days. Taking the work van back to the office and have taken back roads to keep concentration up.
Driving along, the road disappears. I thought, 'that's a little odd' then the nose pitches down. Ah, I'm airborne, right just enough time to brace anSMASH! Then SMASH again as the back comes down.
Van goes left, that's someone's house, correct it, limp back to office sounding like a tractor.
Missed the humpback bridge signs and took it around 50mph. Sump, chassis, radiator, bumper, cat, suspension and brakes where done in my opinion bit left the job before I saw the tally.
Driving along, the road disappears. I thought, 'that's a little odd' then the nose pitches down. Ah, I'm airborne, right just enough time to brace anSMASH! Then SMASH again as the back comes down.
Van goes left, that's someone's house, correct it, limp back to office sounding like a tractor.
Missed the humpback bridge signs and took it around 50mph. Sump, chassis, radiator, bumper, cat, suspension and brakes where done in my opinion bit left the job before I saw the tally.
When I had my Alfa 156 I changed jobs and got a company car so put the Alfa up for sale, it took about a month for anyone to be serious about buying it by which time the battery had gone flat. the prospective buyer wasn't too chuffed so i agreed to buy a new battery and the guy agreed to come back the following weekend. I fitted the new battery immediately then about 3 hours prior to him coming back the following weekend i thought i best take the car out for a run to make sure it was ok and the battery wasn't flat, i needed to go the gym anyway so drove it down there where i proceeded to crash it into one of the concrete pillars in the car park and managed to wreck the rear door and rear quarter panel, genius. took another 2 months after that to get it fixed and sold
SparkFox said:
Driving back from a very long day in a very long month of days. Taking the work van back to the office and have taken back roads to keep concentration up.
Driving along, the road disappears. I thought, 'that's a little odd' then the nose pitches down. Ah, I'm airborne, right just enough time to brace anSMASH! Then SMASH again as the back comes down.
Van goes left, that's someone's house, correct it, limp back to office sounding like a tractor.
Missed the humpback bridge signs and took it around 50mph. Sump, chassis, radiator, bumper, cat, suspension and brakes where done in my opinion bit left the job before I saw the tally.
I like that one!!Driving along, the road disappears. I thought, 'that's a little odd' then the nose pitches down. Ah, I'm airborne, right just enough time to brace anSMASH! Then SMASH again as the back comes down.
Van goes left, that's someone's house, correct it, limp back to office sounding like a tractor.
Missed the humpback bridge signs and took it around 50mph. Sump, chassis, radiator, bumper, cat, suspension and brakes where done in my opinion bit left the job before I saw the tally.
If you lock a E39 bmw, and then decide to push the button on the key to open the boot, it locks as soon as you shut it again.
Even if the keys to the car are in the jacket you just took off to put in the boot.
So
Key 1 in my jacket in the boot.
Key 2 in the glove box
Key 3 the emergency key, in my suitcase also in the boot.
Even if the keys to the car are in the jacket you just took off to put in the boot.
So
Key 1 in my jacket in the boot.
Key 2 in the glove box
Key 3 the emergency key, in my suitcase also in the boot.
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