I have no words...

[laborcat]

I'm posting in here because it happened at work and I didn't think roadkill was appropriate... move if necessary, please... thanks

So apparently, not long after I fled work this afternoon, this happened in the parking lot.

According to my coworker's Facebook post:

Grandma left her granddaughter in her SUV while she went in to get something. Granddaughter started the SUV and managed to damage eight cars, totalling four of them. This appears to be close to where employee parking starts, but from the angle of the pictures, I'm not completely sure. I'm just glad I got out of there first.

[IT Grunt]

Never a good idea to leave kids unattended in a car. The fact that it can get very hot very fast in warm weather aside, the child could do something like this, especially if Grandma left the keys in the car, which is a very stupid thing to do these days to begin with.

My mother learned this lesson when I was only 3. Our house was on a hill, and the mailboxes were all at the bottom since it was a rural route. So she comes home and pulls into the bottom of our road and stops, putting it in park to hop out and get the mail. Two squabbling kids remain behind, and one of us managed to kick the gear shift enough to put it into reverse.

Next thing you know, the ass end of the car is sunk in the creek on the other side of the road and half the neighborhood is trying to figure out how to get it out.

Anyways, the fault's on Grandma for this one, especially if the child was rather young.

[Kristev]

Yes. That was absolutely inexcusable. That little girl could have been killed, let alone the actual damage to those cars.

[Seanette]

Also a non-negligible chance of pedestrians in the parking lot.

[Kanalah]

The parents at the school where I work like to leave the (other children not attending the school - both big and little) in the car with it running. We can't turn off our cartoons now can we?

I am honestly surprised that a car hasn't been stolen before.

[Brojekk]

I remember a car being stolen many years ago in my city with a small child inside. The mother left the car running while she ran into a store for something "really quick". Car thief saw the opportunity,not knowing a child was in the car and took off with it.
He soon turned himself in because he was actually concerned about the child from what I read. Luckily no harm came to the child.

[laborcat]

Somewhere down in the comments of his post, mentions someone almost getting hit. He implied that the child had some kind of impairment, I can't speculate. Three employee cars were hit, which makes me wonder if they'll get points for not coming to work until they get transportation arranged. Mom the insurance wizard told me the grandmother's insurance isn't obligated to pay since it is technically not a public road but I'm guessing she'll choose that option, rather than eight civil suits for damages. I bet her rates will go waaaaaaay up. I certainly hope granddaughter wasn't injured physically. That would suck.

[Kogarashi]

This is why in the rare instance where I've had to leave my kids in the car, the car's been turned off (with the keys in my hand) and I've essentially read my kids the riot act about not messing around in the driver's seat. And I only leave them there either when I can see the car the whole time (picking up older kids at school, because I don't have to go inside for that) or if I've run back into the house for something, and I never do it when it's hot enough to fry eggs outside.

I'll echo the sentiment that Grandma's really lucky the grandkid wasn't injured.

[Aria]

I remember a car being stolen many years ago in my city with a small child inside. The mother left the car running while she ran into a store for something "really quick". Car thief saw the opportunity,not knowing a child was in the car and took off with it.
He soon turned himself in because he was actually concerned about the child from what I read. Luckily no harm came to the child.

I imagine that was a nasty surprise for him... Thank god he wasn't a terrible person.

[Ironclad Alibi]

A while back a carjacking in the DC area involved a baby in a baby seat. The carjackers left the baby sitting on the edge of the road.

[An Haddock]

A while back a carjacking in the DC area involved a baby in a baby seat. The carjackers left the baby sitting on the edge of the road.

I believe the same thing happened a couple of weeks ago - someone stole a car with a young girl of 5 - 6 or so in it, and left her standing in the middle of a parking lot in just her PJ's. Fortunately the cops found her right away.




How old was the girl who hit the cars?

[laborcat]

How old was the girl who hit the cars?

Back at work today and got some better details. The granddaughter is actually an adult with mental deficiencies. She's easily in her thirties, I'd say. As soon as she did it, she came in and told her grandmother that she hit a car, so she knew right from wrong, but I've seen her in the store before and I'd say she's stuck at about twelve inside. (Not trying to be insensitive, just how I'm seeing it through my own experiences)

My co-worker said she didn't hit the brake, the other cars stopped the Tahoe she was driving. If I hadn't left when I did, I'd have been the first hit. The red car owner was lucky, he'd popped the trunk and was starting to get out when he was hit (he had parked where I was earlier). The silver SUV was owned by a lady in my dept, she'd only had it a month.

Someone else said it's likely the grandmother may lose custody because of this.

[An Haddock]

Someone else said it's likely the grandmother may lose custody because of this.

That's just a bad situation all around, and preventable, which is even sadder.

What is it about new cars that makes them magnets for accidents? My dad's had 2 trucks under 6 months old that got hit while parked and my biz partner had his last car for all of 3 weeks and someone hit it in his parking lot. Unbelievable.

[Aragarthiel]

This is why in the rare instance where I've had to leave my kids in the car, the car's been turned off (with the keys in my hand) and I've essentially read my kids the riot act about not messing around in the driver's seat.

My mom ingrained in us that we were not to touch anything in the driver's seat (even if she was in the car, she didn't need us jerking on the wheel or playing with the windshield wipers while she was driving) unless it was an emergency, in which case we were allowed to honk the horn. I'm still learning to drive and it somehow still feels wrong to be touching driver's-side stuff.

[Ophbalance]

Is this in the states? If so the insurance is obligated to pay. It doesn't matter that it happened in private property. The larger issue is this persons limits could leave folks having to sue to recover damages.