::sigh:: I wasn't sure whether to call this post "Two Doors Meet", "Mommy Almost Got Crushed", or "How Not To Stop A Truck"....
Yesterday was July 4th-a fun-filled day of parades, parties, food, family, friends and fireworks. This busy day is also when ER's see the most patients. My obsessive curiosity saved our local ER some traffic last night.
After attending a friend's BBQ, we stopped home to switch out vehicles-JR wanted to take the truck to watch the local fireworks show so we could sit on the tailgate. JR unlocked the house so Amber could go potty before we left. Josiah started to follow her inside. I started transferring the "usual stuff" (purse, diaper, wipes, ect) between the vehicles. As I was leaning into the side of the van, I heard a "pop" that didn't sound normal.
I turned around to see my four and a half year old sitting in the driver's seat of the truck as it's rolling backwards down the parking lot. Unlike some people, I do not have a fast reaction time. Instead, I screamed until the thought of taking action materialized in my mind. Panicked (and not remembering what to do with a manual transmission), I grabbed onto the truck (automatic response was to stop it from moving) and shoved my foot onto the clutch. Apparently that doesn't stop a rolling truck. I racked my brain, trying to think of how to stop it and it finally occurred to me that the "pop" I heard was the emergency brake being released.
By the time I had switched the location of my foot to the e-brake, I could hear the sickening screech of metal against metal. The open truck door had collided with the open sliding door on our van. If I had still been standing there, I probably would have been pinned between the two. The only (physical) damages sustained were to the doors (the poor van had no chance-the motor in that door is inoperable and it takes the force of a strong adult to close it; the truck's takes more force to close as well).
After the truck stopped rolling and I stopped yelling "Can I take my foot off the e-brake now?", JR pulled the truck forward to dislodge the door, and take a closer look at the incurred damage. Thankfully no one was hurt. We did informed Josiah that he is not allowed to drive yet, or touch the emergency brake, but he still seems unfazed by the situation....
Yesterday was July 4th-a fun-filled day of parades, parties, food, family, friends and fireworks. This busy day is also when ER's see the most patients. My obsessive curiosity saved our local ER some traffic last night.
After attending a friend's BBQ, we stopped home to switch out vehicles-JR wanted to take the truck to watch the local fireworks show so we could sit on the tailgate. JR unlocked the house so Amber could go potty before we left. Josiah started to follow her inside. I started transferring the "usual stuff" (purse, diaper, wipes, ect) between the vehicles. As I was leaning into the side of the van, I heard a "pop" that didn't sound normal.
I turned around to see my four and a half year old sitting in the driver's seat of the truck as it's rolling backwards down the parking lot. Unlike some people, I do not have a fast reaction time. Instead, I screamed until the thought of taking action materialized in my mind. Panicked (and not remembering what to do with a manual transmission), I grabbed onto the truck (automatic response was to stop it from moving) and shoved my foot onto the clutch. Apparently that doesn't stop a rolling truck. I racked my brain, trying to think of how to stop it and it finally occurred to me that the "pop" I heard was the emergency brake being released.
By the time I had switched the location of my foot to the e-brake, I could hear the sickening screech of metal against metal. The open truck door had collided with the open sliding door on our van. If I had still been standing there, I probably would have been pinned between the two. The only (physical) damages sustained were to the doors (the poor van had no chance-the motor in that door is inoperable and it takes the force of a strong adult to close it; the truck's takes more force to close as well).
After the truck stopped rolling and I stopped yelling "Can I take my foot off the e-brake now?", JR pulled the truck forward to dislodge the door, and take a closer look at the incurred damage. Thankfully no one was hurt. We did informed Josiah that he is not allowed to drive yet, or touch the emergency brake, but he still seems unfazed by the situation....
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