Umm, About that Car in Your Driveway

[digitS']

Ontario, Oregon (Motto: "Where Oregon Begins") is a little city near Boise, Idaho - right on the border but 380 miles south of my home.

I identify with the people in this story and kind of wondered when something like this will happen to me :

by AP

KREM.com

Posted on January 5, 2013 at 1:10 PM

ONTARIO, Ore. -- The Ontario Police Department says a couple in their 70s, took home the wrong car after grocery shopping.

Police say on December 30, just before 6:00 p.m., an 84-year old woman parked her Oldsmobile Cutlass at the Red Apple grocery store and left the keys inside the car as she went grocery shopping.

According to police, while the woman was in the store, a couple in their 70s mistakenly got inside the Cutlass and drove it home. When the owner of the Cutlass came out of the store, she discovered her car was gone, so she called Ontario Police and reported it stolen.

Then on January 3rd, employees at the Red Apple called police to report an abandoned LeBaron in their parking lot. When police got on scene, they ran the license plate on the LeBaron and found out it belonged to the couple who had driven the Cutlass home.

When police called the couple to ask why their car was at the Red Apple, they said it was not theirs and that their car was in their driveway.

However, when the police arrived at the couple's home, they realized what had happened, the couple took the Cutlass by mistake.

The police had the vehicles returned to their correct owner and no criminal charges will be filed.

Notice that the car was at the couple's home 4 days. I wonder if they had it out for any more errands.

Steve

 

[journey11]

Certainly, there comes a day when one must admit that they shouldn't be driving anymore...and leaving the keys in it isn't much better.

 

[ninnymary]

Just last week I was with my girlfriend. I was attempting to open the door to the car that was 2 down from hers. Same color Another time I was in a parking lot and clicked my key pod as I was approaching my car. Got in and realized it wasn't mine! Apparently the owner was close my and had clicked her key pod. Same car and make.

Mary

 

[hoodat]

Certainly, there comes a day when one must admit that they shouldn't be driving anymore...and leaving the keys in it isn't much better.

When I first came out of my coma my brain was pretty scrambled for quite a while. One of the first things I did was turn in my drivers license so I wouldn't be tempted to try to drive,"just this one time". I'd probably be OK on the road now but I've gotten so used to public transportation I don't see the need to.

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

Hoodat, thank you for making the sensible choice, even though I know the loss of instant mobility must have been hard to swallow. I know just what you mean about scrambled brains; it took quite a while before I was fully back to sturdy after my coma, and I'm 40 years younger than you.

 

[bobm]

Hoodat, Speaking of public transportation ... I don't know what your bus rides to and from your doctor or hospital but my area's bus service is a joke. ... I would serously reconsider and get your license back. I live in a small town of 17,500 people now. Just 10 miles from Vancouver, Wa. then across the Columbia River ( almost 1 mile wide at the highway crossing) and Portland , Ore. If I was to go to my Kaiser Clinic appointment ( 11 miles from my house) or to the Kaiser Hospital in Portland, Ore. ( 33 miles from my house). That is 2 Metropolitan areas ... from my home I would have to walk 1 1/2 miles to the bus stop downtown. There is only one bus from downtown that goes to a shopping mall in Vancouver twice a day 7 am and 5:30 pm. Then I would have to take another bus at 8:30 to go across Vancouver which would take 45 min. to another bus stop, take a transfer to the park and ride for another 20 min. , then walk 1 mile to the medical clinic. Then I would be stuck for the rest of the day for my return trip home . If I was to go to the hospital, it would take me about 3 ++ hours just to arrive there then hope that I am on time for an appointment and then hope that my return trip bus rides were on time to get the bus ride back to my small town. Could potentially take 2 days due to rush hour bumper to bumper taffic ( similar to LA's) on 2 major freeways. Then too, we had over 45+" of rain in 2012 so walking to the bus stop and waiting for the bus to arrive even with a raincoat and umbrella means I would still be cold and sopping wet thereby risking a bad cold or pneumonia.

 

[thistlebloom]

Funny story Steve .

My dad quit driving last year due to macular degeneration. Probably about 2 years later than he should have. My mom does all the driving for them now....shudder. Probably the only time my dad is grateful for bad vision.

 

[lesa]

Great story, Steve. Glad it had a happy ending... Thistle, my parents have the same situation. My dad is legally blind- and gave up his license willingly. My mother does the driving- he says she does fine- I say, "be happy you are blind." The time is fast approaching when I need to step in and take the car... not going to be a happy day. But, I sure don't want her to kill someone (or herself.) Hoodat, you are a smart man- and lucky to have public transportation available- out here in the sticks...not much of it.

 

[so lucky]

I get a sick feeling just remembering the horrible time when Dad had to give up his driving. He had dementia, which made it difficult to reason with him. He tried to have me arrested, and accused me of stealing his car (after he had agreed to hand it over to me to sell) Mom had quit driving years before, so that was not an alternative. All I can say is good luck to you. All the "helpful hints" in the world don't help if you can't reason with the elderly driver. And the license bureau is no help. They don't care if the person is capable or not, as long as they can pass the eye test. And of course, my dad was driving without a license, there at the end.

 

[897tgigvib]

In Sonoma County last year a 74 year old woman was in a parking lot trying to drive out. She mistaked the gas pedal for the brake pedal and ran her car into a bus stop killing a woman at a high rate of speed throwing the woman many feet from where she stood.

But about getting into the wrong vehicle, ya know, so many cars look alike. Around here it seems all toyota pickups are the same silvery gray silver color, and they all have 4 doors, they all have the same liners in the beds, and they look alike year after year.

Now that's one thing, but if they are going to be making vehicles look so much alike why can't parts be standardized???

There really does not need to be more than 3 standard sizes of u joints.
5 tire sizes is all that's really needed.
2 sizes of v4
2 sizes of v6
2 sizes of v8's are all that are needed for 90% of all cars and pickups!

May as well have 2 kinds of steering wheels

ya know, like, standardize these things!

ok, ornamental taillights and such can be unique, but even then, they can be more interchangeable with bolt holes at same places.

But nooo. Gotta have things dumb so they sell more parts.

It's not because someone will drive the wrong vehicle off.

I'm sure glad they came to an amicable conclusion. Heck, I wouldn't doubt those folks are good friends now!