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First 'crash'
HoneyAndLemon
Posts: 329 Forumite
in Motoring
Oh my god, Im shaking. I passed my driving test a week ago, and my mum is on holiday this week so got me insured on her car so I could use it while shes away.
Everything has been going well, been on motorways, driven through the city centre, been parking fine etc.
However, I live in an apartment block and to get into the car park I have to go up a really steep hill into it. First I have to get out and swipe a card against a sensor on the wall and the shutters go up, and I have about 30-40 seconds before it goes back down.
Today I got the shutter up, went to get up the hill into the car park, and stalled. I put the handbrake on fully, went into neutral etc. But even though I had the handbrake on fully, the car kept rolling back when I lifted my foot of the footbrake, but I had to take it off to get the acceleration going to get up the hill. Anyway I tried and tried, but ended up rolling back and hit the shutter behind me. At this point the maintenance dude in the block came running down, and offered to get me up the hill. I could have done it by then because there was no more rolling back to be done, but I was shaking so much I let him.
The car is fine, there isn't any damage to it, but someone had to come out to fix the shutter. The maintenance guy is going to call into me later and let me know how much I have to pay etc.
Im so shaken up and upset. I knew I was bound to make a mistake at some point but that really was terrifying. The thing scaring me most is I don't know what else I could have done. If you stall on that hill, you're pretty much fooked because the shutter behind you closes so quickly. I had the handbrake fully on and was trying to get the car into 1st gear and get the revs going before I released it, but as soon as I came off the footbrake, it rolled back.
Im very upset
Everything has been going well, been on motorways, driven through the city centre, been parking fine etc.
However, I live in an apartment block and to get into the car park I have to go up a really steep hill into it. First I have to get out and swipe a card against a sensor on the wall and the shutters go up, and I have about 30-40 seconds before it goes back down.
Today I got the shutter up, went to get up the hill into the car park, and stalled. I put the handbrake on fully, went into neutral etc. But even though I had the handbrake on fully, the car kept rolling back when I lifted my foot of the footbrake, but I had to take it off to get the acceleration going to get up the hill. Anyway I tried and tried, but ended up rolling back and hit the shutter behind me. At this point the maintenance dude in the block came running down, and offered to get me up the hill. I could have done it by then because there was no more rolling back to be done, but I was shaking so much I let him.
The car is fine, there isn't any damage to it, but someone had to come out to fix the shutter. The maintenance guy is going to call into me later and let me know how much I have to pay etc.
Im so shaken up and upset. I knew I was bound to make a mistake at some point but that really was terrifying. The thing scaring me most is I don't know what else I could have done. If you stall on that hill, you're pretty much fooked because the shutter behind you closes so quickly. I had the handbrake fully on and was trying to get the car into 1st gear and get the revs going before I released it, but as soon as I came off the footbrake, it rolled back.
Im very upset
''Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by a$$holes.'' :whistle:
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Then the handbrake probably wasn't on fully. You need to find an empty hill somewhere and practice hill starts.HoneyAndLemon wrote: »I had the handbrake fully on and was trying to get the car into 1st gear and get the revs going before I released it, but as soon as I came off the footbrake, it rolled back.0 -
No-one was hurt. Move on and as above.0
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Then the handbrake probably wasn't on fully. You need to find an empty hill somewhere and practice hill starts.
I did have it on fully. I checked and re checked. The maintenance guy saw it fully on too.''Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by a$$holes.'' :whistle:0 -
You got off with a lucky escape,noone was hurt and little damage caused.Hopefully you will have many more years of accident free driving ahead and in time you will look back at this incident and laugh about it.Put it aside and good luck for the future.0
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I know it's upsetting. A few months after I started driving I clipped a brick wall as I was turning out of a car park and dented the panel with the rear wheel arch. It was minor and no-one was hurt but I was really upset by it too. Minor bumps happen (I've had two more since!) - it'll be ok. Main thing is no-one gets hurt. Cars, shutters etc can all be repaired.
You or your mum should get the brakes checked at a garage, just to make sure there's nothing wrong with them. We have an old-ish Astra and the handbrake wouldn't always hold on steep hills. It was fine for parking, but sometimes if you were driving and then had to stop on a hill, the handbrake simply wouldn't hold it and the car would roll a bit so we had to do really quick hill starts. Our garage tightened the handbrake cable and we also had the rear brake drums replaced and after that it was fine. It might be that in your panic you didn't quite pull it on all the way. Or it could be that the brakes need some work. For safety reasons, if you've ever got any doubts over the brakes you should get them checked.
Other posters are right that you should practice your hill starts more to get more confidence (in a quiet area with nothing you can roll back into). The more you drive, the less you'll panic when things go wrong.
p.s. Best part - no damage to your mum's car.
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pinkteapot wrote: »I know it's upsetting. A few months after I started driving I clipped a brick wall as I was turning out of a car park and dented the panel with the rear wheel arch. It was minor and no-one was hurt but I was really upset by it too. Minor bumps happen (I've had two more since!) - it'll be ok. Main thing is no-one gets hurt. Cars, shutters etc can all be repaired.
You or your mum should get the brakes checked at a garage, just to make sure there's nothing wrong with them. We have an old-ish Astra and the handbrake wouldn't always hold on steep hills. It was fine for parking, but sometimes if you were driving and then had to stop on a hill, the handbrake simply wouldn't hold it and the car would roll a bit so we had to do really quick hill starts. Our garage tightened the handbrake cable and we also had the rear brake drums replaced and after that it was fine. It might be that in your panic you didn't quite pull it on all the way. Or it could be that the brakes need some work. For safety reasons, if you've ever got any doubts over the brakes you should get them checked.
Other posters are right that you should practice your hill starts more to get more confidence (in a quiet area with nothing you can roll back into). The more you drive, the less you'll panic when things go wrong.
p.s. Best part - no damage to your mum's car.
Thanks very much for the supportive posts. The footbrakes have been making a screechy high pitched noise lately when pressed, and I've been telling my mum to get them looked at, but that didn't even occur to me when it happened. I'm wondering if maybe the handbrake needs looked at too.
I know people will think I just didnt have it on properly, but I really did, that's what scared me so much. I felt really stuck. The shutter was so close that when I tried a really quick hill start it just didn't work.
Think I will definately have to get the brakes looked at.''Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by a$$holes.'' :whistle:0 -
Definitely worth getting it looked at then! Tell the garage about the brake noise, and mention that you think the handbrake might have failed to hold the car. They can check the whole braking system. 0
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Hard to say without seeing the area...... But there's a little trick that you don't get taught, but you learn after passing your test.
It's jumping from the brake pedal to the throttle, lifting off the clutch and giving it just enough gas to move forward without a wheel spin.
Your literally doing the same thing as with a hill start, but without the handbrake and within the blink of an eye.
It takes practice and a good "feel" for the car, but on very steep inclines it's about the only thing you can do.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
<><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><> Don't forget to like and subscribe \/ \/ \/0 -
Should I tell my mum? lol''Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by a$$holes.'' :whistle:0
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That you had an accident in her car, whilst covered on her insurance. what do you think!HoneyAndLemon wrote: »Should I tell my mum? lol0
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