So the LMM has been learning to drive the BMW. It's a 330i, with a six speed manual transmission. Pretty muscular car, and fun to drive.
But she has had some trouble with the whole "starting on a hill" thing. So she was practicing, down on the hill at the Wood Valley Racquet Club in our neighborhood.
She got flustered, and couldn't get the thing to go. Panicked a little bit, and for reasons I'm not really clear about decided she would coast backward to flat ground, and then try again. The thing that I'm not understanding is that she pretty much just put in the clutch, let go of the brake, and coasted backward off a small embankment and into a culvert. Why not, if I may ask, look behind you using the mirror thingies thoughtfully provided by the manufacturer. As you can see, she didn't miss the actual paved part of the road by a little. She missed it completely.
You can't really tell, but the right rear wheel is a good foot off the ground. And the left front wheel was six inches off the ground. So the car was teetering back and forth quite a bit, about to fall into the culvert. There's a pretty deep hole hidden in the shadow under the car.
I asked her to set the parking brake and GET OUT OF THE CAR. NOW.
We called AAA to come give us a tow. LMM went home, and I stayed with the car. Tow truck guy was some fine old redneck, who actually had no visible neck at all, and a classic combo bald-crewcut look. He pulled up, took a walk-around, and looked at me. "What?"
I said, "Wife." He nodded gravely, and pulled the car out. We didn't really say much more.
But she has had some trouble with the whole "starting on a hill" thing. So she was practicing, down on the hill at the Wood Valley Racquet Club in our neighborhood.
She got flustered, and couldn't get the thing to go. Panicked a little bit, and for reasons I'm not really clear about decided she would coast backward to flat ground, and then try again. The thing that I'm not understanding is that she pretty much just put in the clutch, let go of the brake, and coasted backward off a small embankment and into a culvert. Why not, if I may ask, look behind you using the mirror thingies thoughtfully provided by the manufacturer. As you can see, she didn't miss the actual paved part of the road by a little. She missed it completely.
You can't really tell, but the right rear wheel is a good foot off the ground. And the left front wheel was six inches off the ground. So the car was teetering back and forth quite a bit, about to fall into the culvert. There's a pretty deep hole hidden in the shadow under the car.
I asked her to set the parking brake and GET OUT OF THE CAR. NOW.
We called AAA to come give us a tow. LMM went home, and I stayed with the car. Tow truck guy was some fine old redneck, who actually had no visible neck at all, and a classic combo bald-crewcut look. He pulled up, took a walk-around, and looked at me. "What?"
I said, "Wife." He nodded gravely, and pulled the car out. We didn't really say much more.
4 comments:
A Lincoln Town Car would not have had that problem!
Oops.
I'm with anonymous! Though now thinking Lincoln Navigator!
Ruuuuuuun, Cheddar, ruuun! It's the apocalypse! Run for your lives!
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