Runaway Car Goes Belly-Up in El Cerrito
Thanks to reader David Block for sending us these photos illustrating why it's good to make sure your brakes are set when parking on hills.
Photos
El Cerrito reader David Block sent us these photos of a parked car that he spotted belly-up about 11:15 a.m. today, Sunday, on the 1400 block of The Arlington in El Cerrito.
El Cerrito police officer J.T. Wahrlich said the driver had parked the Toyota in the driveway but neglected to set the parking brake about 11 a.m. when car's engine was started to let it warm up. The manual transmission was left in neutral, Wahrlich said.
The vehicle, without the driver inside, rolled from the driveway on the east side of The Arlington across the street, where it apparently hit the curb and flipped over on its back, Wahrlich said. No one was injured, he said.
The name of the driver, who was visiting the home, was not released.
Correction: The original headline and photo captions on this story mistakenly said the accident occurred in Kensington. They have been corrected.
Milford Brown
10:51 am on Monday, August 29, 2011
It is no longer considered necessary to let a car engine "warm up" for minutes (however long the driver intended to be away from it) before driving it, particularly in our mild climate. Give it a minute, or maybe a bit less, for the oil to be circulated to all of the inner parts, and then drive gently for a short distance; the work that the engine does to keep the car in motion will soon bring it to normal temperature, and fuel will not be wasted by having the engine running while going nowhere.