Canine’s joyride ends in crash, but no ticket
By Keith Turner
September 22, 2008
We’ve probably all done it at some time or another. We leave the car running as we pop into the store for a quick stop of no more than a couple of minutes. No big deal, right?
Well, it was a big deal for a Florida man, Mark Shuttleworth, who did just that while his dog, Oatie, sat patiently in the car waiting for his return.
But this particular time, Oatie decided to take matters into his own paws and jumped into the driver’s seat of the family Volvo and inadvertently shifted the manual stick into neutral. The car then proceeded to roll forward, with Oatie in the driver’s seat, through the parking lot. It eventually crashed into an unoccupied car next parked next to a McDonald’s restaurant.
Here’s how the story was told in the Deland-Deltona Beacon newspaper:
According to DeLand Police records, “‘Oatie’ apparently knocked the car into neutral (stick shift) and went for [a] ride through the parking lot. It ended with ‘Oatie’ crashing into an unoccupied vehicle next to McDonald’s. Neither party wanted a crash report. Minor damage and no one was hurt.”
Sandra Gonzalez of Deltona owns the 1997 GMC hit by Oatie in his driving debut.
“I work at the McDonald’s. Someone came in and said, ‘Sandra, someone hit your car.’ I went running outside to see, and there was no one — just the dog.”
The question she asked police is the same one that occurred to The Beacon.
“I asked the police officer: Is the dog going to get a traffic ticket?” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the canine crash didn’t do much damage to her elderly car; she was glad nobody was hurt.
“It was funny,” she said.
And, no tickets were issued. Officially, Oatie’s driving record is still spotless.
We all know that Volvo’s are dog-friendly vehicles, but this is ridiculous.
When my first litter turned four months old, I sent out a e-mail to all of their families with news and a request for recent photos for our website. Most of the new owners sent short notes and a photo or two. Then I received an e-mail from Maisie’s owner. The first paragraph was much like the other families’ notes — all about training, and summer plans. The rest of the note is one that I’ll keep forever and share with new puppy owners as proof that puppies can and will do what you never expected, and that crate training is a must, both at home, and in the car. Keep in mind, the owners live in San Francisco. Remember the chase scene from Bullitt?
Dear Patti,
Thanks for the birthday greetings!!!
I’m afraid that Maisie is not as far advanced in her training as Zip is, but we are doing well. And the whole family will be doing very well indeed when we arrive on our island in Maine next Wednesday, the 26, where we will vacation for a full month. It will be splendid to see how Maisie adapts to being in the middle of a lake, with woods, docks, boats, etc.
We had some trauma last week, sorry to say. I double-parked my car to deliver a package to a parishioner. I was only gone for about 30 seconds, but Maisie was so enthusiastic upon my return, she jumped from the back to the driver’s seat, and in doing so she disengaged the emergency brake and shifted the gears. Since we were at the top of a steep street, the car began to roll. I tried to stop the roll, but in doing so, I fell, broke my left foot, and collapsed to the pavement. In absolute horror I watched the car careen down the street, envisioning worst case scenario: people dead, wounded, maimed; trememdous property loss if the car crashed into a house . . . and an injured or dead doggie.
Thank God, the car only went the distance of a two houses, when it swerved to the right, and crashed into a curb-side parked car, with no people inside it. Upshot of the situation, the car our car hit was a tank-like SUV, which suffered almost no damage. Our car was totaled [broken axle], but Maisie suffered no damage and I only suffered a broken foot. Which is small potatoes given what could have happened!
It has been a difficult week since the accident, because I have had to deal with the medical and car insurance establishments, which are not at all user-friendly. But we are on top of things now, so all should go well before we go to Maine and, I trust, after we get back.
Perhaps because nothing severe happened, the accident has become the occasion of some humor among friends and parishioners. “Driving Miss Daisy” [from the movie] has morped into: “Miss Maisie driving” or “Maisie at the Wheel.” Someone left a message on the home machine earlier this week, saying “I’m just calling to see how you’re doing. Maybe Maisie and you are out driving.” There was the comment from the agent from the insurance company, based in Kansas, who said, “I know you are very liberal in San Francisco, but do you really let your dogs drive? [I hope this was tongue-in-cheek, but who knows?]. And then there are the many coments suggesting that John and I should be taking Maisie to driving school instead of puppy school!
So much for now. Except to say, two weeks ago Maisie weighed in at 30 pounds; she is absolutely elegant; her black coat shines even when there is no sun; she is as rambunctious as you warned us; and we will all recover from last week’s trauma.
Thank you again for the best dog ever.
Comment by Patti — September 24, 2008 @ 7:30 pm