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[pscocoa]

.....my elderly aunt who has a new clutch in her KA every year and covers less than 1000 miles.

Attempts to get her into an auto so far unsuccessful which is barmy because she had an auto bmw prior to this car 13 years ago. She pays over £400 a time for the new clutch.

[05omegav6]

I could see her doing alot of damage with an auto sounds like she might be using a fair amount of throttle whilst riding the clutch...

Could it be time for her to stop driving?

[aaronjb]

Could it be time for her to stop driving?

Yeah, before she slips off the clutch at 5000rpm and ploughs through a shop front.

[05omegav6]

Could it be time for her to stop driving?

Yeah, before she slips off the clutch at 5000rpm and ploughs through a shop front.

That would be my biggest fear with an auto

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

.....my elderly aunt who has a new clutch in her KA every year and covers less than 1000 miles.

Attempts to get her into an auto so far unsuccessful which is barmy because she had an auto bmw prior to this car 13 years ago. She pays over £400 a time for the new clutch.

Ah....women and clutch control.

It rarely ends well.

[pscocoa]

You are right I think - leave her with the manual until she decides to stop of her own volition

[dad1uk]

Had to go through this with Mum, she had an auto Astra 1400.
The way we got out of it was to send her out with a driving instructor and let
him make the decision.
Needless to say she came back after about 30 minutes and never drove again.
This might of been the cowards way out but there was no argument from mother!!

[Taxi_Driver]

Had to go through this with Mum, she had an auto Astra 1400.
The way we got out of it was to send her out with a driving instructor and let
him make the decision.
Needless to say she came back after about 30 minutes and never drove again.
This might of been the cowards way out but there was no argument from mother!!

Was that on her own decision 

Im concerned my Mum still has a car....shes 84...

[Nick W]

I've recovered  loads of automatic/old people crashes; they're not accidents! The real problem is not the initial drove into a wall/post/car/swimming pool   but the fact that the car hasn't stalled due to it being an auto. The problem comes when fear allows the 'driver' to yank it back into reverse, and continue the crash somewhere else.


I used to think my mother should have an auto(she does a Focus clutch in under 20k miles), but work has proved that is a bad idea.

[Andy B]

I've recovered  loads of automatic/old people crashes; they're not accidents! The real problem is not the initial drove into a wall/post/car/swimming pool   but the fact that the car hasn't stalled due to it being an auto. The problem comes when fear allows the 'driver' to yank it back into reverse, and continue the crash somewhere else.


I used to think my mother should have an auto(she does a Focus clutch in under 20k miles), but work has proved that is a bad idea.

I've seen a few police camera action programmes where, as you say, the older person has crashed and just kept their foot planted on the throttle .......
I wonder if these people are relative new comers to auto cars? Though my Dad is 'only' 78, I've no worries at all that, if in the event of a bump, he knows the difference between the two pedals ...... he's driven all sorts of auto cars over the years .... hearses .... stretched saloons etc

[05omegav6]

My third Mk2 Granada was written off and me almost with it when an old dear put her auto car into the side of it...

I had turned left into a side road and joined a queue just clear on the junction. She had been wanting to turn right an had un/fortunately accelerated from about 15mph to ramming speed across a lane of oncoming traffic into me. I say un/fortunately as she could easily have had a headon as she crossed the oncoming traffic. I think she had gone for a genuine gap but literally hadn't seen the queue twenty yards away

She hit me with enough force to push the b post into the drivers seat and the drivers seat into the centre console. Luckily, at the time I was skinny enough to make Tunnie look fat, if it had happened more recently, I might have burst summat

Had to use a portapower ram wedged in the rear footwell to push the pillar out enough to get the doors open...

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

My third Mk2 Granada was written off and me almost with it when an old dear put her auto car into the side of it...

I had turned left into a side road and joined a queue just clear on the junction. She had been wanting to turn right an had un/fortunately accelerated from about 15mph to ramming speed across a lane of oncoming traffic into me. I say un/fortunately as she could easily have had a headon as she crossed the oncoming traffic. I think she had gone for a genuine gap but literally hadn't seen the queue twenty yards away

She hit me with enough force to push the b post into the drivers seat and the drivers seat into the centre console. Luckily, at the time I was skinny enough to make Tunnie look fat, if it had happened more recently, I might have burst summat

Had to use a portapower ram wedged in the rear footwell to push the pillar out enough to get the doors open...

Did they revoke her licence, Al?

......or insist she took her driving test again?

[05omegav6]

Don't know tbh... Her insurers were quick to settle though and half an hour with a sledge hammer and two non matching doors later, the Granada was as got as it was the day I paid £150 for it