Learner driver rolls car

Gingertom

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Yahoo news:
Learner driver Krisztina Jaksa ended her second driving lesson by crawling out of an upside down car.

The bizarre accident happened in Headington, near Oxford, when the 24-year-old was crossing a junction.

The BSM Fiat 500 she was driving hit a gatepost then flipped onto its roof, smashing the side windows and windscreen. When local resident Ross Dunne heard a crash he rushed to the scene and helped Ms Jaksa out of the car; the instructor was already getting himself out.

Both Ms Jaksa and her instructor emerged relatively unscathed. According to witnesses, Ms Jaksa said that the steering locked and, panicking, she hit the accelerator hard.

There is no indication that a mechanical fault contributed to the accident in any way.

An ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and police closed the road briefly, but both the driver and instructor were treated only for minor cuts.

BSM Communications Manager Paul Shepherd said that the company had "spoken to the learner driver who is fine and is already hoping to book her next lesson with us soon."

Mark Nichol

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If the steering wheel did lock (I kinda doubt it) then Fiat needs to investigate. Either way I don't think she should get her license, at least for a while... hitting the gas in an emergency situation is not a very smart decision. I can understand that she panicked but still
 
don't know how it's in the UK, but over here the instructor has his own set of pedals to overrule the learner in case of emergency...
 
Reminds me of the Top Gear when they're talking about the BBC driving test they have to do.

You have a blowout on the motorway. Do you...
A. Hit the accelerator pedal?
 
don't know how it's in the UK, but over here the instructor has his own set of pedals to overrule the learner in case of emergency...

Same thing here in Portugal. Also, the instructor has its own steering wheel that can be installed or not depending on how advanced the learner is in terms of driving classes. Can't understand how and why the instructor didn't hit the brakes when the woman panicked.
 
The Mazda3 my driving instructor taught me on didn't have passenger pedals or steering...
 
Insert joke about British teenagers all rolling their cars, or being in a field surrounded by sheep that are no longer living and bits of your mum's Audi.
 
A learner car without extra set of pedals, at least a brake, seems irresponsible.

I had at least one situation where my instructor had to brake, preventing me from doing some stupid rookie mistake. And I think everyone I know has a similar story.
 
Ofc, I almost plowed into a barrier whilst avoiding a drunk tosser on the road. Luckily the instructor has all the pedals and got me out of a sticky one :D

But I think the proper thing to say here is When in doubt, flat out. ;)
 
im pretty sure the AA, RED, BSM ect and all major driving schools have cars with dual controls, especially for beginner drivers. Even my one man band driving instructor had dual controls in his car. he had a full set of pedals, though i think the standard is clutch and brake.
 
Silly woman, she parked on a double yellow line too! In all fairness, that sort of fault in a Fiat doesn't surprise me, the brake servo failed on mine and they claimed there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The only reason they replaced it in the end was because a Fiat technician knew the recovery mechanic (I don't know why they told me this...). As you can imagine my faith in the Fiat brand was sky high after this incident. Previously I had to have the gearbox replaced (under warranty) and another person I knew with the same car had to have this done too. Having said that, the car was ancient at under 2 years old.
 
Insert joke about British teenagers all rolling their cars, or being in a field surrounded by sheep that are no longer living and bits of your mum's Audi.

It was a woman that was driving, let's keep the jokes simple here!
 
Why is this even news? Don't most British teens end up rolling their cars anyway?

Must have been a slow news day.
 
Why is this even news? Don't most British teens end up rolling their cars anyway?

Must have been a slow news day.
Because a car accident not involving a Toyota is big news. Had she rolled a Prius or GX440, no one would be surprised so it wouldn't have been mentioned.
 
Sounds a lot like shitty instruction to me. Clearly the girl had so little experience behind the wheel she shouldn't have been on public roads, never the less at a speed sufficient to roll the car. Do you guys not practice gas/brake technique at crawl speeds in empty parking lots first? You do have to learn where the brake and gas are, especially if you never drove go carts or anything as a kid (I went to school with a girl in precisely that situation, yes it was unusual but not absurdly so).
 
I think that's given that she knew such basics, and I also don't think that's the reason for what happened. I've seen so many girls that somehow managed to get their license who under pressure default to flooring the gas, letting go of the steering wheel and covering their face with their hands that I believe they somehow must be hard-wired to do so. I figure that by the time the instructor reacted the car already had gained enough momentum to flip.
 
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