Do your pedals confuse you?

[prairieflower]

It sounds like it was on private property and no one was hurt. The damage will be covered.

It was a mall parking lot and someone could have been walking in front of the store!

Time for the police to start ticketing these drivers. This is complete hogwash that no ticket will be issued.

[Fancy]

Which is private property and no one was hurt.

I couldn't find an appropriate ticket for the offence - maybe someone else knows what the ticket could be issued for. I don't see the point though in this case.

http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws ... e/96318_00

[Woodenhead]

Incidents like this should be a ticketable offense, or punishible in a way that affects your ability to drive. No ticket (at the very least) for an incident like this = laughable.

And "nobody got hurt" shouldn't get you off the hook. (I understand the law vs. private property part tho)

[zzontar]

Which is private property and no one was hurt.

I couldn't find an appropriate ticket for the offence - maybe someone else knows what the ticket could be issued for. I don't see the point though in this case.

http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws ... e/96318_00

Do you think someone should get a ticket for driving 10 km/hr over the limit on a good stretch of road in light traffic? There should be even less of a point in ticketing the speeder seeing as no damage was done, and there are much worse things that can happen when you get your pedals mixed up than going 10 over.

[Fancy]

It wasn't a highway in which case there would have been a ticket issued. I believe it comes down to "jurisdiction".

[36Drew]

It wasn't a highway in which case there

Sure it was...

"highway" includes

(a) every highway within the meaning of the Transportation Act,
(b) every road, street, lane or right of way designed or intended for or used by the general public for the passage of vehicles, and
(c) every private place or passageway to which the public, for the purpose of the parking or servicing of vehicles, has access or is invited,
but does not include an industrial road;

http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/LOC/freeside/--%20M%20--/45_Motor%20Vehicle%20Act%20RSBC%201996%20c.%20318/00_Act/96318_01.xml#section1

[Fancy]

http://www.icbcclaiminfo.com/node/13

I was under the impression the parking lot itself isn't deemed "highway".

[bh]

This could not have happened in a manual transmission.

I hate automatics. Hate.

[Fancy]

36Drew - forgot to mention thanks for posting that.

[Piecemaker]

At risk of great ridicule and calls for me to turn in my driving licence, I confess that I once hit the gas when I intended to brake!
I don't know if my foot was a little too much on the edge of the brake and slipped off to the gas pedal or what.
I was driving my own vehicle and wearing flat shoes. I was not distracted or in a rush. It was most disconcerting and shocking to learn how easily that could happen. I thought at the time how glad I was that there was no person, vehicle or plate glass window behind me.
Luckily the only thing damaged was my pride. (I had approximately a 30 year ticket and accident-free driving record at that time.)

[Alvis]

Poeple are forgetting a few things here.

Most cars today have extermly small areas for the pedals as well as very small pedals.
With my size 12's I have to be extra careful NOT to hit the gas the same time I apply the brake. Never had this problem with my older pre 1990's cars and trucks. The worst was a 1992 Geo Storm. The clutch was on on/off switch. Utterly ridiculous.
My car also has a hydraulic clutch now. In the cold, the fluid changes viscosity and results in altered clutch movement. This can make the difference between a smooth take off to a jack rabbit hop, stall or dumping the clutch and chirping the tires. It is very erractic in operation until the car warms up and there is enough heat in the engine bay to normalize the ambient temp. It is a truly stupid design. Was never an issue with any mechanically linked clutch I owned.

So you add in a senior with some medications in their system, decreased reflexes and a lifetime of driving cars with rationally placed pedals instead of the stupid small, closly placed pedals they have now, I can see it. Not at all far fetched for a senior to want to hit the brake and not realize they also have their foot on the gas pedal, and panicing because the car is not slwoing down, hit the brakes (and unknowingly the gas) harder.

[Always Sunny]

...Most cars today have extermly small areas for the pedals as well as very small pedals.
With my size 12's I have to be extra careful NOT to hit the gas the same time I apply the brake. Never had this problem with my older pre 1990's cars and trucks...

So you add in a senior with some medications in their system, decreased reflexes and a lifetime of driving cars with rationally placed pedals instead of the stupid small, closly placed pedals they have now, I can see it. Not at all far fetched for a senior to want to hit the brake and not realize they also have their foot on the gas pedal, and panicing because the car is not slwoing down, hit the brakes (and unknowingly the gas) harder.

You make some valid points, however...

- These recent occurances have not been size 12 shoe wearing men. That is a reasonable explanation as I've driven all sorts of vehicles over the years and the pedal size/spacing varies greatly.

- If you're blaming medications on diminished reaction time and safety on the road these people should NOT be driver under the influence of prescription drugs!. I'm sorry...but I'm in my twenties and have been on prescription drugs several times over the past 1-2 years which reduce my capacity for safe driving. And while my job requires far more driving than the average person...I stay off the roads until I'm no longer on these medications. Whether it means preplanning trips, relying on friends, or staying home...I don't take those chances with my life or others'

[Alvis]

You make some valid points, however...

- These recent occurances have not been size 12 shoe wearing men. That is a reasonable explanation as I've driven all sorts of vehicles over the years and the pedal size/spacing varies greatly.

- If you're blaming medications on diminished reaction time and safety on the road these people should NOT be driver under the influence of prescription drugs!. I'm sorry...but I'm in my twenties and have been on prescription drugs several times over the past 1-2 years which reduce my capacity for safe driving. And while my job requires far more driving than the average person...I stay off the roads until I'm no longer on these medications. Whether it means preplanning trips, relying on friends, or staying home...I don't take those chances with my life or others'

Why you inferring I say they ought to be driving under the influence? You must still under the influence of your "medication" I presume.
Also do you have any data to back up your claim that these people did NOT have size 12? You wouldn't just make something up would you?

[Always Sunny]

Why you inferring I say they ought to be driving under the influence? You must still under the influence of your "medication" I presume.
Also do you have any data to back up your claim that these people did NOT have size 12? You wouldn't just make something up would you?

I'm simply pointing out why it's not an excuse for related accidents to happen because anyone under the influence under prescription drugs should not be driving. Nice childish dig though.

Please provide links supporting the fact that these drivers shoes were the cause of these accidents. Since you know, statistically speaking size 12 shoes are too wide for today's pedals.

The last four articles I've read on this...

1.) http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/76 ... or-the-day
2.) http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/74 ... ity-Greens
3.) http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/84024/E ... an-his-leg
4.) http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#86629

Likelihood of these four women wearing size 12 would be slim, not to mention that's equivalent to about a size 9 men's which is barely average.

[Alvis]

I'm simply pointing out why it's not an excuse for related accidents to happen because anyone under the influence under prescription drugs should not be driving. Nice childish dig though.

Please provide links supporting the fact that these drivers shoes were the cause of these accidents. Since you know, statistically speaking size 12 shoes are too wide for today's pedals.

The last four articles I've read on this...

1.) http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/76 ... or-the-day
2.) http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/74 ... ity-Greens
3.) http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/84024/E ... an-his-leg
4.) http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#86629

Likelihood of these four women wearing size 12 would be slim, not to mention that's equivalent to about a size 9 men's which is barely average.

You still haven't shown that the size of shoe and placement of pedals is not an issue. You are still guessing.
You are not familiar with the scientific method that only looks at objective information and disregards subjective, are you? I learned about it when I was in college.

By what you wrote, you are assuming anything under a mens size 12 is not "too big". You have failed to note whether these vehicles were cars, minivans, trucks, automatic or manual transmission. You have not indicated the age of the driver. You are claiming they were all female and that is it. What is average size of a clutch, brake and gas pedal? What is the average distance between the pedals? Is there in fact minimum and maximum standards for these? So how can you say "Please provide links supporting the fact that these drivers shoes were the cause of these accidents" when I never said they were. YOU DID and now you pathetically try to engage me in an argument! Do yourself a favour and drop the arm chair expert attitude. I got past high school, did you?

I gave a hypothesis based on possible contributing factor, some based on personal experience, some based on unsupported anecdotes, which I have no intention of "proving." I am not claiming anything, unlike you. When you make a claim, then you need proof.

I don't have to prove anything to you, I am not the one making claims based on a guess. That is not how the scientific method works.