Yup! Truth is stranger than..........strange world we are living in.

Oh, my! Guess the driver didn't pay enough attention to the signs that say "Buckle Up. It's the Law."

Um...doesn't he have TWO legs? (Hit the brake with the other foot?)

I am glad that no one was hurt! I, too, was wondering about the other foot?

Well, if your leg unknowingly came off, you wouldn't necessarily have enough time to think to use the other foot... you may not even realize your leg came off before you hit something... I mean, theoretically, he could have used his hands on the break too, but it takes time to adjust. He's disabled, accidents take split seconds, not minutes... I feel sorry for him.

Poor guy -- poor friend too.

Amen, Carla. Poor guy.

No doubt the wayward leg that's rattling around in there would be in the way.

Emergency brake would be a little help ... but not much!

Ignition switch - but no time.

I agree that the "Buckle up!" admonition seems to "fill the bill" ... but how would one know if that were the driver's name?

ole joyful

This story reminds me of one that my dad told. He was an independent insurance agent, and one day a client came to file a claim for medical expenses for breaking his arm. Dad asked him how he broke the arm, and the fellow, still in his cast, demonstrated with his good arm and broke it too, right there in Dad's office!

they should have hand breaks installed.

Quote-"The drivers newly fitted prosthetic leg came off and he was unable to hit the brake."

Obviously,a good lot of you have never had much experience with a prosthetic limb.JMO

When I first read this, I thought it was true, and
made me feel badly.

But, after some of the remarks on here, I guess, what?,
it was meant to be a joke? Or just turned into a
tasteless joke?

I'm surprised that person doesn't have to have hand controls on the car. Seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Doesn't anyone teach people what an ignition switch is for? It's possible this was a case of it happening, then the person panicked and the accident happened. But when I started driving one of the first things we were taught is shut off the ignition. I shook my head in amazement when I heard about one of the Toyota incidents in California. Someone on the freeway called 911 that their accelerator stuck and they were driving down the freeway at high speed. The 911 operator didn't even think to say shut off the ignition! This thing went on for something like 20-30 minutes and finally someone suggested shut it off.

What's called a "parking brake" these days used to be called an "emergency brake". But then apparently started the idea of in case of emergency, call 9-1-1.

It's not that we aren't sorry that the man has lost his own leg or that the accident happened. I just wondered if he couldn't use his other foot to brake, although I know that in the panic of the moment 'things happen'.

Actually, I also wondered if he is a 'two-footed driver' who uses the left foot for brake and right for accelerator. (You know who they are if you are driving behind them; the brake lights flash on and off but the car doesn't slow. Their car mechanics know them; their brakes need repair too frequently.)

I'll have to tell my DH the story of the arm-breaking demo! lol

Molly, I'm sure this is true. Ron wouldn't post something saying it was true if it wasn't.

I would think people with a prosthetic leg would need hand brakes installed on the car... but a google search shows there are a lot of people with artificial limbs driving regular cars (even stick shifts!).

Driving through store windows happens a lot of the time. It sure is a shame that it happened, and I hope the driver recovers from the embarrassment and continues to drive. I feel badly for him. It would take a few seconds to realize that the limb was not connected and I can see where there may not have been time to react. Windows and cars can be fixed and I hope no one was injured.

Without any information as to the interval between when he knew that he was in trouble and when it really happened, our good advice isn't too useful.

Parking brake?

It takes a couple of seconds to activate, after the thought to do it ... and it's not nearly as effective as foot brakes.

I mentioned earlier the idea of turning off the ignition, but that takes a second or two after thinking of needing to do that ... and the car would still be rolling. Quite likely still hit the window even if the driver had done that.

Even though kids can do it easily ... would folks our age have to take our foot off ...

... to put it into our mouth, do you think?

ole joyful