oops, my car rolled away.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 673
Likes: 0
From: Central Connecticut
i am lucky i didn't kill anyone.
i was on a long drive and stopped to use the rest room. SOP is to put the car in 3rd and go in. that's fine in Houston, TX and most other places but this day on this slope i guess i didn't have it all the way in gear or something and it slowly rolled backward down a hill. not more than 20 feet and came to a stop in some bushes. no damage and no real speed involved.
i have driven stick shifts for about 20 years and they have never rolled like this before.
i was on a long drive and stopped to use the rest room. SOP is to put the car in 3rd and go in. that's fine in Houston, TX and most other places but this day on this slope i guess i didn't have it all the way in gear or something and it slowly rolled backward down a hill. not more than 20 feet and came to a stop in some bushes. no damage and no real speed involved.
i have driven stick shifts for about 20 years and they have never rolled like this before.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Palm Springs CA
i am lucky i didn't kill anyone.
i was on a long drive and stopped to use the rest room. SOP is to put the car in 3rd and go in. that's fine in Houston, TX and most other places but this day on this slope i guess i didn't have it all the way in gear or something and it slowly rolled backward down a hill. not more than 20 feet and came to a stop in some bushes. no damage and no real speed involved.
i have driven stick shifts for about 20 years and they have never rolled like this before.
i was on a long drive and stopped to use the rest room. SOP is to put the car in 3rd and go in. that's fine in Houston, TX and most other places but this day on this slope i guess i didn't have it all the way in gear or something and it slowly rolled backward down a hill. not more than 20 feet and came to a stop in some bushes. no damage and no real speed involved.
i have driven stick shifts for about 20 years and they have never rolled like this before.
Glad yours is okay too.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,420
Likes: 5
From: "This is not a psychotic episode, but a cleansing moment of clarity."
Glad that nobody was hurt and that you learned a valuable lesson in the process. However, I can't believe that you had *no* damage. I'd think that rolling into the bushes would have scratched the paint, at least!
of you to share your mistake here. Hopefully, it might prevent someone else from doing the same (3rd, no ebrake vs. 1st or rev. and brake) 
of you to share your mistake here. Hopefully, it might prevent someone else from doing the same (3rd, no ebrake vs. 1st or rev. and brake)
Glad to here you are O.K.! 
Racer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 460
Likes: 0
From: N. Potomac MD
It pops out of gear.
I know we all know this but our transmission with a very light load will pop out of gear. I have had it pop out of revers and 1st just sitting in my garage which is slighly sloped to allow water to drain out. Short of pulling the parking break you have to put a chock behind it or it will pop out and roll. No other stick I have ever owned did this.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 152
Likes: 0
From: SE Michigan
I used to not leave my sticks in gear, I'd just come to my final stop using the e-brake. This would verify it was engaged well enough to hold the car... so I thought. One day I came out to find my car wasn't there!? Well it had rolled three rows down and was sideways there. As the brakes cooled the car was free to go, I presume it rolled into the car behind it. But when they moved it rolled down the empty area of the parking lot. I do both now, only first or reverse with a tight e-brake pull.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,073
Likes: 1
From: Sarver Pennsylvania
When I was in college I had an Austin-Healey (first car I ever owned - I was into the "sports car thing!). Among ALL of the problems with it was that it really was NOT a warm car in the winter (
).Before leaving my parents' house to return back to school, I went out and started it to "warm up" the car prior to leaving - heater "on" to give me a head start on the cold drive back to school.
I rounded up my last batch of clothes (it was a "laundry run"
- that's why we would go home, right?), and went out to put them into the car - but no car! I could hear it - but it wasn't there! It had rolled across the street and into the wall of a neighbor's house!
No damage, just more shame.
However, my uncle was walking up the sidewalk and almost got hit by it!
MORAL: ALWAYS use the emergency brake AND turn the tires in a direction that will make it stop soon!!!
