I was walking out of the small supermarket, heading towards the car up a slight incline. It's snowy, slushy, muddy, cold and horrible.
The car next to me was parked (badly as usual, nose-first) and a couple of metres away. I wasn't paying any attention to the old man until it all happened. My immediate, instant assumption was that a pensioner in an automatic in reverse had hit the gas instead of the brake. The car shot backward. A split-second later, I was wondering why the hell he still had the door open as the car was starting to move rapidly. A millisecond later, I realised this mass of scarves, hats and raincoats was actually standing outside the car, leaning into the car. Another millisecond and I was wondering was it a hand-brake failure and why was it moving so quickly. Was it the slope? What was this idiot doing? And then the car collected up this pensioner with the open door, flung him backwards into the slush, and dragging him along. The car was on half-lock-left and as I watched it go past, the last piece of the puzzle was solved. Of course, it was a LHD and the driver is still sitting in the other seat, reversing - it's the wife who is squashed under the door, flailing around just a few centimetres from the wheel, turning towards her. It's amazing for your brain to conjecture so many scenarios in probably less then a full second, but I'm programmed and hard-wired as a RH Driver. And suddenly, everything changes. I'm no longer amused by a complete idiot, I'm hoping in hell she won't be hurt.
And then a few metres later, the door finally released her and passed over her chest and head, and just missed that wheel. Probably my wife's screams that made him stop looking behind and look at the open door instead. There she was - in her seventies, confused, bewildered, soaked, covered in filthy slush, lying on her back and staring up at me. Of course wifey takes control, shouting in Polish, helping her, comforting her, until the old man realises the situation and starts sobbing and hugging her. I can only assume he'd dropped the wife at the supermarket and he was going to reverse out and drive off. He didn't give her time to exit the car and close the door.
Thank heaven it happened in snow, because dragging a rotund old lady 4 or 5 metres across tarmac pinned under a door would certainly leave a chunk of her skin behind.
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Not quite in the end. Iwas relieved myself, and I bet you were.
>> I wasn't paying any attention to the old man until it all happened.
Back to normal now though BBD? Not used to neglect, your old man...
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Exciting afternoon there BBD, better than pawing over your stash of porn?
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"better than pawing over your stash of porn?"
I was a bit turned on by that old woman lying at my feet. She was certainly a bit wet.
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>> There she was - in her seventies, confused, bewildered, soaked, covered in filthy slush, lying on her back and staring up at me.
Sorry BBD, pretty sure you were having a flashback.
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It's amazing for your brain to conjecture so many scenarios in probably less then a full second
I had that on Monday..
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As in, "What the chuff am I doing at my time of life on a ruddy scooter" maybe?
:-)
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That's the one thought that didn't occur to me - one was actually about hospital food.
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When we were rear ended by an HGV in a hire car, I remember hearing metal being ripped and buckled and I thought that was it for us. No panic or anything - no time for that. And then the next thing I remember is waking up in an ambulance and looking back at the car, HGV and tanker. Changes life's perspectives a bit these incidents.
Must admit I don't think I'd have worried about hospital food! :-)
Like others I'm surprised you're doing the scooter thing. One reason I don't have a small car is to have more actual metal behind me on the roads! The Fiesta crumple zones worked. But the roof still crumpled too.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 21 Feb 13 at 20:38
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I tend to be inpatient and my wife struggles getting in and out the car.Lucky the older woman wasn't badly hurt.
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Just watched a bloke drive over his wife - Armel Coussine
