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Well that was stupid
Aug. 28th, 2023 09:17 pmI had to pop out on Friday afternoon, but when I got to my car I found my neighbour was sitting in the open door of hers with her 2yo asleep on the backseat and the new-born being appallingly cute on the middle bench seat. As our drives are physically contiguous, this put my car's engine within 2m of both of them.
"I'll just roll out onto the street and start the engine there," I told her, not wanting to present her with two crying children.
Starting it rolling was no problem, that part of the drive is on a slight slope, so just insert the key, knock it out of gear and take the handbrake off. But the streetside half of the drive is much steeper, and as it started to pick up speed I braked to check there was no one coming, and automatically stuck it in gear* as I did so.
That was a problem, because doing it without the engine running immediately engaged the steering lock, and the weight of the car on the slope meant I also couldn't get it out of gear. And you can't start the car with it in gear. The only way** to get it out of gear and out of steering lock in those circumstances is to physically push it forward slightly to take the weight off the drivetrain. But it was on the slope, facing uphill, and my normal stick a leg out to ease it slightly forward wasn't going to work.
So that meant getting out of the car to physically shove it forward, but as soon as I took the handbrake off and knocked it out of gear, it was going to start rolling backwards.
That's okay, thinks I, I can just grab the handbrake to stop it.
"I'll just roll out onto the street and start the engine there," I told her, not wanting to present her with two crying children.
Starting it rolling was no problem, that part of the drive is on a slight slope, so just insert the key, knock it out of gear and take the handbrake off. But the streetside half of the drive is much steeper, and as it started to pick up speed I braked to check there was no one coming, and automatically stuck it in gear* as I did so.
That was a problem, because doing it without the engine running immediately engaged the steering lock, and the weight of the car on the slope meant I also couldn't get it out of gear. And you can't start the car with it in gear. The only way** to get it out of gear and out of steering lock in those circumstances is to physically push it forward slightly to take the weight off the drivetrain. But it was on the slope, facing uphill, and my normal stick a leg out to ease it slightly forward wasn't going to work.
So that meant getting out of the car to physically shove it forward, but as soon as I took the handbrake off and knocked it out of gear, it was going to start rolling backwards.
That's okay, thinks I, I can just grab the handbrake to stop it.
So I knock the handbrake off, put my shoulder to the car and rock it forward
The pressure on the gear lever frees up and I knock it out of gear. At which point it immediately starts to accelerate backwards.
I grab the handbrake and yank it on.
Car continues to accelerate backwards.
Sh*t! F*ck!
The only solution was to dive into the (slowly) moving car and stamp on the brake pedal, which stopped it just short of the road.
I am amazed I got away with no more than a bruised shin.
Also a good reminder that the handbrake is a parking brake and not a moving brake!
* Just to be weird, my car is a semi-automatic - no clutch pedal, but a conventional gearstick.
** There's probably something buried in the manual, but I know rocking it forward works.
