Crash in the driveway

No one was hurt, but both cars were totaled. I had just installed the camera about two weeks earlier.

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Welcome to the forum.

Wow, was the driver someone you know?
It would be interesting to know what caused that. :slightly_smiling_face:

“Totalled”?? Wow insurance adjusters aren’t what they used to be.

The rear end of my Avenger got pushed about 8 feet down the sidewalk. Frame was damaged along with both front and rear suspension. I was surprised hers got totalled,

It appears that she mistakenly pressed the accelerator, then panicked and pressed it harder thinking it was the brake. You can see she backed out at one speed and then suddenly accelerated. I’m happy no one was injured.

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I suspect a bunched up floor mat.

Yeah it was hard to see but I could understand yours getting seriously damaged. The aggressor car didn’t appear to have anything but perhaps a scuffed bumper. Sorry it happened. Thanks for sharing the video…

I was going to guess it was either a teenager or very elderly person. Both do these kind of things most frequently and then come up with excuses afterwards.

The stuck throttle story is extremely unlikely. As mentioned above, the brakes were never touched. Even if the throttle was “stuck” it wouldn’t have gone up that fast, and slamming on the brakes would’ve still stopped it and make crazy sounds and eventually smoke. The video shows the brakes were clearly never touched.

The person meant to hit the brakes, but pressed the accelerator instead, then pressed it harder when it sped up. It was an honest mistake, and I’m sure she believes her story that it’s the car’s fault (it’s not), but it’s probably better that she not drive anymore if she can’t even tell or admit that she never touched the brakes… Indicates her mind may be slipping and start putting people at risk.

Best wishes to her, and everyone else. May you all stay safe.

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But if it was a teen she should continue driving?
Just teasing. :slightly_smiling_face:

Impressive!

LOL, :rofl: That is a good one based on my phrasing.

I know you’re joking rhetorically, but in short:
TL;DR: most teens learn to get better with experience, while elderly continue to decline and get worse. The teen would need some lessons, more practice, etc. The elderly means it’s a big red flag she’s declining (especially thinking it was “stuck” instead of misplacing her foot).

When teens start driving they are running off Top-down processing (which we humans suck at). Purely computational, procedural and active conscious doing. This is best for things like mathematical problems, etc.

Once they drive enough, they’ll flip their driving skills to bottom-up processing, which learns and improves its performance according to experience. This algorithm is subjected to continual modification as it has memory.

Teens suck at driving because they are forced to rely solely on top-down processing, but will eventually transfer that experience to the subconscious neurons and run on bottom-up processing. But Elderly minds won’t have this mitigating option…their brains increasingly stop transferring things over to the subconscious for experiential learning improvements. It just goes downhill.

Hence why it is a red-flag to stop the elderly lady driving (doesn’t even realize it was her own foot slamming the gas), but would only mean the teen needs more safe driving practice and will then be fine to keep driving.

I doubt the old girl thought it was stuck. It’s just what she said out of embarrassment.

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At least there’s an eye witness! :santa: