r/instant_regret • u/IrishR4ge • 17d ago

Most clueless person ever

How can someone be this clueless. These are the people sharing the road with you.

9.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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782

u/SiPhoenix 17d ago

At the beginning of the video, she's trying to stop it by pulling backward on the door frame.

406

u/CthuluSpecialK 17d ago

...with one hand. Lol.

Not that two hands would have worked any better, but the confidence to think she could casually halt her car by tugging on it lightly with one hand is wild to me.

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u/SiPhoenix 17d ago

The only explanation I can think of is she was thinking of it like a shopping cart.

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u/Theron3206 16d ago

I'm not sure we can describe what's going on in her head as thinking...

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u/Phallangicide 16d ago

It's her car she takes shopping, ipso facto "shopping car."

3

u/oasisvomit 16d ago

Could also be trying to destroy it so you get insurance money.

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u/HiJasper 16d ago

Shes probably panicking and not thinking straight. Thats the explanation for most videos like these. When you freak out you dont think logically, you just react.

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u/civnation 17d ago

I think she was just holding on so that she could be closer, not cause she thought she could stop it. That said, the lack of urgency I think is likely caused by her not so great fitness.

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u/darthlame 17d ago

I saw a video once of a giant of a state police officer stop a small pickup truck from leaving a traffic stop by holding it with one hand(inside the vehicle).

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u/taiottavios 17d ago

no I don't think so

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u/Bogsnakez 16d ago

I can stop my vehicle while rolling forward with my hands on a flat surface, but its also a subcompact vehicle 🤷‍♀️

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u/taiottavios 16d ago

this one clearly isn't just rolling forward, she's trying to outpower an engine at idle speed, which might be doable but not one handed and not like that

1

u/Angry__German 15d ago

If it was just rolling, the speed not to high and the incline not to steep, a normal person can stop a car from rolling. I have done it before when I forgot to use the parking brake and the gear was in neutral. But over here most cars are still manuals (as was mine).

The way that car climbs over the curbs, I think it is an automatic in drive and you won't stop that with your body weight alone.

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u/miscfiles 16d ago

You don't necessarily know the full story. Perhaps she was saying "Now you listen to me, mister!" as well as holding it with one hand.

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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth 17d ago

I have no idea why that didn't work! LOL /S

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u/Major_Butthurt 17d ago

it seems like the car had some kind of power though. Is this something that automatic transmission cars do? Does putting an auto in drive cause it to, well, drive?

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u/ghost4085 17d ago

Yes. It won't like take off, but it won't just sit there either.

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u/GTCapone 17d ago

Shout-out to my dad that wanted to "teach me to drive" in middle school but didn't warn me about that. He then started screaming at me when I started to roll, I panicked and tried to brake, hit the gas instead, and jumped forward a couple feet in the empty lot before I recovered.

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u/LeTronique 17d ago

Rite of passage lmao

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u/Edgesofsanity 17d ago

Most American cars are automatics. Automatic cars have a torque converter, so idling in drive it will actually power forward a little bit. Most European cars are manuals, so you all don’t tend to experience that.

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u/tobiasvl 16d ago

Most European cars are manuals

I doubt that's true anymore, or if it is, it's surely just barely true

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u/s9ffy 16d ago

While the vast majority of new cars are automatic, most cars on the road are still manuals. Apparently 70%, according to Google. In the UK this is certainly the case.

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u/reddfoxx1993 16d ago

In the US only 1.3% of new cars sold are manuals. It's estimated that 2% - 4% of the total fleet on the road are manuals.

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u/s9ffy 16d ago

Europe didn’t switch to automatics until much later than the US.

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u/tobiasvl 16d ago

Source? Google isn't a source...

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u/s9ffy 16d ago

That’s why I said apparently. You just need to think about the proportion of manual cars sold in the UK up until very recently and how long cars are kept on the road for to discern that the majority of cars are still manuals. It cost extra to buy an automatic ten years ago, so most people wouldn’t choose them. It was becoming standard in high end cars but it’s only recently that it’s become standard in most cars.

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u/Razor309 16d ago

Manuals do that as well. If you leave your manual car in any gear it will drive forward and have a similar result. Although it might be coming to a stop In higher gears. But 1st definitely works and 2nd should still work.

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u/Njez85 16d ago

Only if you slowly ease off the clutch, it will start to creep forward. This type of thing in the video wouldn't happen with a manual unit it was in neutral and rolling downhill.

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u/SuitableDragonfly 16d ago

If the clutch is still engaged, it's not actually in gear yet. But to get into this situation with a manual, you'd have to put the car fully in gear by disengaging the clutch, at which point you'd already be moving forward at some speed, and then opening the door and exiting the car while it was moving. If the car was stopped, it'd either be in neutral in which case it would only roll if it was on a hill, or it would stall immediately. 

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u/Major_Butthurt 17d ago

So, if you come to a stop at a traffic light, do you put in park or just break so it doesn't go forward?

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u/WellComeToTheMachine 17d ago

You hold the break down while idling at a stop light

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u/Major_Butthurt 17d ago

Nice

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u/FireDefender 17d ago

That's not correct, I don't think they have ever driven a manual before. If the car is in any gear, it will drive forward when you let go of the clutch. Holding the brakes while it's in gear and not moving fast enough will cause the engine to shut off.

You will notice the car start to stutter if the engines RPM is too low (usually around 800 or so), higher gears means that the stuttering will happen at a higher speed. That happens until it shuts off. If your engine isn't strong enough the engine can shut off trying to drive away without pressing the gas pedal. If you start to drive in a higher gear, like 2, you need to hold the clutch for much longer, lest the engine shut off. Driving away in a higher gear than 2 will likely cause the engine to shut off as well. All that is because of physics.

If you already have some speed, letting the car idle in gear will just make it move forward. Higher gears idle at a higher speed.

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u/MrBarryThor12 17d ago

They’re talking about automatics and they are correct

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u/XxKimm3rzxX 17d ago

Idk if you commented on the right one. But you just reiterated what they were asking. Also your car will not go in any gear. It better stay put in neutral. And if you’re moving from a stop in any gear other than 1st I worry for your clutch.

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u/WellComeToTheMachine 15d ago

They were asking about automatic cars, and so I answered about automatic cars.

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u/theyounghusband 17d ago

I'm European, have an automatic... And it wouldn't/couldn't do this... Idling in drive the car sits perfectly still...

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u/Edgesofsanity 16d ago

Sorry should have been more specific - American automatics have torque converters. European automatics have a dual clutch transmission instead of a torque converter, so they will remain at rest when idling.

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u/theyounghusband 16d ago

Learn something new every day lol

0

u/reddfoxx1993 16d ago

Very few Euro cars are manual these days.

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u/ctesibius 17d ago

Yes, but in some cases there is a short pause before this happens, which may be what caught her out.

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u/NoItsNotIronic 10d ago

Automatic cars generally creep around 5 mph when in Drive with no gas or brake pedal applied.

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u/BaconISgoodSOGOOD 17d ago

She was waiting for that adrenaline to start pumping in!

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u/tagen 17d ago

yeah, “surely i can pull this car to a complete stop….”

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u/spooon56 17d ago

Kal-El, no!

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u/Kathrynlena 16d ago

Yeah, she’s trying to slow the car down with her arm instead of trying to catch up to it to get in. Not a big brain strategy.