These Are The Worst Mistakes Jalopnik Readers Made As Young Drivers

I asked Jalopnik readers to regale us with the tales of youthful automotive mistakes last week, and I don't think I've ever had better responses to a question. We all did dumb stuff when we were kids, and some of us still do dumb stuff today (myself included). If you could go back and undo one of your biggest automotive mistakes from your early driver days, which would you focus in on? If there's a story that wasn't told, or you have a different take on it, drop it in the comments below and we'll all continue the discussion. 

There are a few different kinds of mistakes that young drivers make, and among the Jalopnik readership, we've made them all at one point or another. Whether it's ignorance, stupidity, or a fundamental misunderstanding of the fragility of the human body, mistakes happen and thankfully luck was on our side and we didn't die in the process. Some of these stories could have really ended in a much worse way than they did, were it not for dumb luck, a guardian angel, or perhaps a deal with the devil. 

The vast majority of the comments boiled down to not knowing the rules of the road, or simply ignoring them. I picked out a few of my favorite stories to highlight. Some are funny, some less so, but I was impressed in some way or another. Hopefully you'll agree with me. So, without further ado, these are my favorite answers submitted by our readers this weekend:

I would say my parents made the mistake of letting me buy a mustang gt when I was 16. I was a hellion in that car and im surprised I lived to tell about it.

Suggested by: Brody Eskelsen

My first car was a 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix SE coupe, and I could have done with about 100 fewer horsepower. If my first car was a Mustang GT, I'd be eating all of my food through a straw. 

Overcooked a corner in my VW. Back end came around, I overcorrected, went through the ditch, over a small tree, flipped once, landed back on the road, right side up, engine still running. Roof was bashed in a little, but after I shook off the shock, I got it back into gear and (slowly) motored back home.

Dad was not pleased.

Suggested by: ThatGuy

The secret with rear engine cars is to be abrupt and jerky with your inputs, especially mid-corner, if you want to avoid spinning out. 

Two weeks into having my drivers license and driving a '74 Triumph TR6 on a nice summer day with the top down. I'm in the left hand turn lane at a busy intersection about 1/2 mile from home. Light turns green, and I give it some gas, and the throttle linkage sticks mid-turn. Back end kicks out. Throttle still stuck. I have no idea what is going on. There's a small strip mall parking lot with some empty spaces that I'm going to bail into... except I went over a curb to get there.

Destroyed my front sway bar and the plate it attached too. Both of them pushed up into the bottom of the radiator, forcing the radiator into my engine-driven cooling fan. So by the time I ended up in the parking spot, I had a pretty big plume of steam exiting the engine bay.

I have no idea why I didn't shift into neutral when the throttle stuck. I didn't think of it, I also didn't know then what had happened... until the throttle stuck again on me some time later. I do remember going into neutral then and finally figuring out and fixing the issue.

Did I mention that the parking lot of the strip mall happened to be where my barber shop was and the hair salon where my mother got her hair done. Everyone knew who that 17 year old kid with the TR6 was that crashed over the curb and into their parking lot.

Suggested by: F1appassionato

I genuinely believe we should teach disaster preparedness and failure mode mitigation in driver education. What do you do if your brakes fail, if your throttle sticks wide open, if your control arm snaps in half mid-corner? Kids should know these things!

I shattered the windshield on my '88 MR2. Went through all the steps to give it a good suspension, stickier, modern tires, a bit more power, and some (admittedly cringey) aesthetic modifications. What I did not know is that this era of MR2 had a chassis that was about as stiff as wet paper.

"But it's Toyota!" I thought. "Toyota's are dead-nuts reliable and they use great materials, the steel's fine!"

... It was not fine.

Back chicane on a track during a track day? Quick right on hard braking into the left, and the weight transfer twisted the chassis enough to overstress the windshield. I thought I hit something, so I pulled off into the runoff. The marshal came over, older gentleman, I don't remember his name, but I remember asking, "What'd I hit?"

He told me, "Nothing. You got cross-bracing on that car?"

"Uhhhh, no? It's a Toyota, chassis should be sound, right?"

He just laughed.

That was one expensive mistake, as insurance wouldn't cover the windshield because I was on a track. I started looking up how much cross-bracing I'd need. Turns out, with the amount of cross-bracing I'd need to make this car work, the added weight made it heavier than if I'd just gone with an SW20 MR2 or a Fiero instead from the start. So that's what I did. '85 Fiero Notchback with an '88 Cradle swap, L67 swap and GM F40 6-speed transmission. (Brakes, front suspension, tires, wheels, and some tower braces later...)

The only failures are mistakes you don't learn from.

Suggested by: JustACarGuy

I'm not going to be too hard on you, JustACarGuy, that's a mistake anybody could make. How would you know that would happen? This is just such a cool story it had to go somewhere. 

The year was 2001, and I was 16. My dad just bought a 1996 Ducati 900 SS (CR build). He let me ride it to my first job (at Little Caesars) from time to time. On my way back home, I needed gas so I proceeded to the nearest gas station to fill up. Upon finishing, I turned the ignition on for a second about to start it up, when a nice trucker fellow came over to me and told me I just filled the bike up for diesel gas. Had to call my dad with the news, which he was furious about. We went to the local K-Mart, got a gas canister and syphoned the fuel out. Before we started it up, he asked me if I turned the ignition on to ensure the fuel pump didn't activate with the diesel. I claimed I did not. Thankfully, the bike started up no issues and I was on my marry way. Lesson learned, pay attention to the pumps you use when filling up a motorcycle.

Suggested by: Squash

The amount that I wouldn't ever trust a 16 year old to responsibly ride any Ducati, your dad must have really thought he'd done alright raising you. Good for you, man. I mean, not good for putting diesel in it, but hey, you lived to tell the tale. 

19 years old or so and I bought a beat up VW Scirroco to mess around with for the summer. The night I got it I couldn't resist taking it out for a little spin, despite the fact that I hadn't yet done the paperwork for the plates and registration. I was playing around in a parking lot a few miles from my house around 11PM and, sure enough, blue and red lights started flashing. Had to have the car towed home, paid a bunch of fees for the moving violations, even had to show up in court to plead my stupidity in front of a judge. Lots of lessons learned that summer.

Suggested by: BuddyS

I'm almost 40 and I still do this. A police officer kindly told me that my motorcycle tags weren't up to date this morning and asked for $200 as payment for the notification. 

30 years of driving and I can honestly say I've never made a mistake. It's always the other drivers on the road. You'd think they'd learn by now.

Suggested by: Jimmy Kay

Look at all this smoke, surely I didn't start a fire.

I washed my MKIII Golf VR6 in the freezing cold and left the car outside over night.

broke 3 out of 4 door handles and still went in through the trunk lid.

then.... when the inside temperaturee increased guess what? 2 doors opened wide while i was making a turn..... thank god there were not passengers with me

Suggested by STR86

Amazing work. No notes. 

It was about 1993 and I was returning from lunch at Miami Springs Senior High with everyone at our 2000+ student school out for lunch. I thought I was incredibly cool with my 1984 Fiero that I just got working again. Turning into the parking lot, I gunned it and put all 4 cylinders of that iron duke to the test. Letting off the gas I quickly realized I underestimated the zest of my Fiero. Slamming on the brakes the tires quickly locked up, squealed loudly as I passed a couple cheerleaders. About a second later I hit a fence post, ruining the fresh rattle can paint of my bumper, and putting a sizeable dent in it. Backing up, everyone's looking at me and laughing while I casually park my car and skulk away to the band room. To this day, that dented fence post is still there, and some may say that at 12:44 PM, you can still hear the squeal of those tires. (The post in question looks the same today as it did then. A shame upon me: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xJAgVNP9qhK8sbGX9 [seventh post from closest corner])

Suggested by: TheEric

Wow, I've also done this, but in a rusty Crown Victoria. I feel so seen by these comments. Good work everyone. 

The day after I got my license I drove to wrestling practice. Our coach was my drivers ed instructor, and was quite strict.

After practice, it had snowed about an inch or so, and I had an 83 s10 blazer. I was doing donuts like crazy with a couple of other kids when he came out and stopped us. He yelled at the others, but looked at me and just said, "It's been ONE day" and walked off. He called my dad, who was the football coach at our school and I was without car for the whole weekend after my Saturday morning exuberance.

I had to get a ride to work on Sunday after I had told everyone I was going to have my license. Had to eat a lot of crow for the next couple of weeks.

I learned not to do donuts...... and get caught.... in a car that you share with your brother.... otherwise donuts are fine.... as long as my wife also in the car.

Suggested by: bb1313

Your driver ed instructor/coach/father should have applauded your desire to find the grip levels of your tires in a safe and controlled environment instead of out on the road where you could have hit someone. 

I thought a radar detector made me invisible and invincible. Soon after getting my license at 16, I saved up my money and got a decent Escort radar detector. It was advertised as having the technology that made the detector invisible and plenty of alert time, and given at the time I thought speed limits were mere suggestions, I relied on it to keep me out of trouble during some long drives.

Wrong...

Several very expensive tickets later, and still wondering how one wasn't ticketed as reckless driving, I put the detector away for years. My insurance, and this is 1991, was over $2,000/year in Pennsylvania just for liability. And that got expensive for someone in high school and leaving for college. So the worst mistake was overreliance on hardware when I should have been relying on common sense and taking it easy.

Suggested by: Xavier96

My first radar detector is a big part of why I don't trust technology. 

I did a neat 360 in my first car (RWD Infiniti M30) when I decided to see how fast I could go around a corner on a damp road. The concept of handling limits had never really been explained to me in driver's ed. Fortunately, I managed to avoid hitting anything.

Suggested by: Neal Richards

Throttle-on oversteer is an important lesson, and those of us with rear-wheel-drive cars are always bound to learn it. Some more painfully than others. You're one of the lucky ones, my friend.