This feels like a pretty standard situation of "I got this" or "It's not really a problem" because we are used to dealing with issues old cars present.....but then things changed.
The "change" happened when the issues, as presented, went mostly ignored.....probably so as not to disappoint the crew and video shoot more than any sort of errogance or bravado.....again, a place we have all likely been.
We suffer through the issues to complete the task at hand and we intend to look at things when finished.
I'm not saying it is right, but I suspect we have all done this at least once to some extent.
One of the most forgotten aspects of custom car building, or restorations, is sorting the car fully when finished.
Man I have worked on a lot of well restored vehicles, or customized vehicles, that did not receive that last 10% of the job called sorting.
The whole car has been fully redone.
All the parts are new or rebuilt and they should work.
The car worked good when the process started and nothing but upgrades have been performed so things should be better, right?
WRONG!
So many times there are tiny little details that need to be worked out in order for things to be properly sorted, but they often go undone because the car functions as is so it must be good.
Not to mention we are excited to finally drive the thing......Anyone ever drive a 1/2 finished project sitting on something that is not a mounted car seat?.......
In this instance the driver of the car was given a few tells and warnings.
1) Sticking throttle....noticed and acknowledged, but not addressed.
2) Brake issues that required special attention (HUGE red flag with this one) also noted but not addressed
Both of these are issues that should require a stop to check at the very least.
Calmly find the nearest parking lot, side road, or shoulder and take a look.....now.
You may find a tow home is the wise choice, even if that is a huge pain in the buttinski.
During the crash sequence I did see the driver shift into some sort of PARK position and you can clearly hear the parking pawl rattling.
I don't know if this car had an emergency brake or not, I suspect not, but it was not tried if it did......Gotta have a functioning emergency brake.
I suspect this car had some sort of ignition switch and I suspect turning off the engine would have had a helpful effect....maybe not fully preventing the crash, but taking away the power would certainly alter the events as they took place in the video.
As far as what should have happened once the crash sequence was under way.....I'm not going there because arm chair quarterbacks are always "smarter" than the person who was literally involved. Lots of thoughts during those few panic seconds and what you choose is 100% of that moment.
When we make lesser choices during those moments we gain experience....the hard way.
I would bet the majority of us will be checking their brakes, fluid level, and E-Brake tension prior to venturing out next time.
It's easy to get complacent with this stuff. I mean really, how often do we have an emergency? A full tilt, shitting your pants emergency?....Not very often for the majority I would suspect.
It is worth it to make sure the car is safe to drive, If for no other reason than to protect the innocent people in the van from this video.
The van people were just out taking care of errands and their lives were changed by the crash too.
Their car was taken away and that results in a big hassle to make whole again.
They likely had some injuries that cause Dr. visits, which is also their time, money and energy they must expend to get right again. Even if reimbursed in the end they used their time, money and energy getting there.
