Another "They walk among us"

[Pappy]

Had to go to Lowe's this morning for some plastic sheeting. Leaving there was a college age girl broke down on the service road blocking traffic. Everyone was just going around her. I pulled into a parking lot to see if I could maybe flag down a couple of other guys and get her car pushed into a service station and out of the roadway.

As I was getting out a city cop pulled in behind her. He told her we were going to push her off the road and to put it in neutral then turned his cruiser to block both lanes. The first two vehicles stopped were pickups with 2 men in one and 1 in the other. All 3 sat in there trucks and watched (and probably cussed at the cop.

Back to the car and the girl. She said it wouldn't let her shift into neutral. He gets in, looks at the gear shift then at the ignition switch, asked her for the keys, turns it on and shifted it into neutral. Her reaction was, I kid you not, "DUH!". He walks to the rear, she gets in, and he walks back past her and said this might make it easier to steer. Closed the hood and then back to the rear.

as we started to push, I commented that the ramp was fairly steep and he said we needed to get some speed. I said, "And pray she doesn't hit the brakes". His reaction was, "No s***, she ain't the brightest bulb on the tree!"

[sweensdv]

Sometimes however doing it right still proves to be futile. This past Friday night my doorbell rings and when I answer it there is a woman around 40 or so at the door. Her car, with her elderly mother in it, broke down at the foot of my driveway. She says it just quit on them and wondered if I could help push it a few feet so it wouldn't block my driveway. She said her brother was on the way and they would deal with getting it towed away when he got there. So, I went to the back of the car to push and told her to put it into neutral. She then said that she couldn't get the shifter to move out of park. I did what that cop did except that after I turned the ignition on the shifter still wouldn't move out of park. I really didn't pay any attention to what kind of car it was but I personally have never heard of that. On a positive note, I hooked up my jump starter to her battery and got the car restarted and she went on her way with her brother following.

[Cochese]

Sometimes however doing it right still proves to be futile. This past Friday night my doorbell rings and when I answer it there is a woman around 40 or so at the door. Her car, with her elderly mother in it, broke down at the foot of my driveway. She says it just quit on them and wondered if I could help push it a few feet so it wouldn't block my driveway. She said her brother was on the way and they would deal with getting it towed away when he got there. So, I went to the back of the car to push and told her to put it into neutral. She then said that she couldn't get the shifter to move out of park. I did what that cop did except that after I turned the ignition on the shifter still wouldn't move out of park. I really didn't pay any attention to what kind of car it was but I personally have never heard of that. On a positive note, I hooked up my jump starter to her battery and got the car restarted and she went on her way with her brother following.

Shift interlock system. In my experience with Hondas, it can be a problem on the older ones. Mostly an easy fix, though.

[Richard in Smithville]

My 05 Ford won't shift out of park unless the brake is pressed on.

[radhak]

My 05 Ford won't shift out of park unless the brake is pressed on.

I thought that's with all automatics : seen that with my corolla(s), altima, quest and the RAV4.

[sweensdv]

I thought that's with all automatics : seen that with my corolla(s), altima, quest and the RAV4.

I think you may be right about that however I'm pretty sure that only applies to when the engine is running. My Dodge RAM is like that.

[JimD]

Yet another reason to prefer manuals. A long time ago when I was in college, I left the lights on for a week (used the car for Sunday dinner when the dorm didn't serve food) and the battery wouldn't take a charge. I didn't have the money for a new battery so I would put it on the charger, take it to the car when I was ready to go to dinner and it would start. If we talked too long over dinner, however, sometimes it wouldn't start. So then I would put my date behind the wheel and push it up to speed so she could bump start it. That didn't help the dates any. I didn't find any women who could do it. I would have to push and then jump in and get it going. The concept of putting it in gear, letting out the clutch for a few seconds to turn the engine over, and then disengaging the clutch just wouldn't sink in. My increasingly exasperated explanations were not appreciated.

Jim

[cabinetman]

Reminds me of this.

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[atgcpaul]

Reminds me of this.

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Hilarious! I almost choked on my lunch.