Teen drives minivan into Newcastle frozen yogurt shop
NEWCASTLE, Wash. -- Nobody was seriously injured Monday afternoon when a teenager crashed a minivan into a Newcastle frozen yogurt shop.
The 15-year-old boy was driving the Toyota van with his mother when he somehow drove directly into Zoeyogurt in the 6900 block of Coal Creek Parkway, according to officials from the King County Sheriff's Office.
There were several people inside the shop at the time of the crash, and one of them suffered minor injuries.
The boy, who does not have a driver's license but does have a learner's permit, was not injured. His mother was also uninjured.
It's unclear what led up to him driving into the business or if he will be ticketed.
The 15-year-old boy was driving the Toyota van with his mother when he somehow drove directly into Zoeyogurt in the 6900 block of Coal Creek Parkway, according to officials from the King County Sheriff's Office.
There were several people inside the shop at the time of the crash, and one of them suffered minor injuries.
The boy, who does not have a driver's license but does have a learner's permit, was not injured. His mother was also uninjured.
It's unclear what led up to him driving into the business or if he will be ticketed.
Out of both my kids my son was the easy one to teach, paid attention and was very careful, my darling daughter was put the pedal to the medal and hang on to your hat its going to be a E ticket ride.....
He is not ready to drive. Give it another year or so and maybe he will have the mentality to handle basic driving skills. I can say this having taught a couple boys myself. Not everyone is ready to have that responsibility, no matter the age. They must possess the ability to handle the pressures and stress that come with driving. If their emotional/cognitive ability is not mature enough, then the parents need to just tell the kid flat out they aren't ready yet.
I admire those who teach driving. Â You could get killed doing that!
That's why I teach people to fly airplanes, much safer and a lot less stressful. Â Â :-)
Better ban mini-vans now.
Yep, if your foot is on the gas instead of the break, pushing harder will NOT stop the car. I bet the driving school wishes that their sticker wasn't in the back window! Glad there weren't any serious injuries.
I don't have a problem with my daughter driving so long as we practice where there isn't a lot of traffic. Like a field or something. If she does well, we can progress on to surface streets.Â
Sad... i think this place was just a few months old too...Â
You mean it was NOT "drive-through"?
Mom will be facing a big injury lawsuit...
I hope most of the kids learning to drive end up being better drivers than some of the adults teaching them.
And my daughter wonders why I bring my oxygen tank when she drives.
Again, I stand by my opinion about teen drivers. Let's start them at 18 years old, when they are more emotionally ready.
@Koawoodplayer What we did with my teen was only allow him to drive local routes that we had him practice over and over, and only after we approved him. For example to school, to the gym, to sports practice, etc. Then, he was able to have lots of practice on those routes over almost a year which helped his confidence and skill. And I know someone will argue that most accidents happen right near home, but with new drivers I still argue it's safer than allowing them to have complete free reign as soon as they get their license.Â
A license doesn't mean they are ready for anything & everything.Â
@Koawoodplayer My daughter is 18. It's scary as hell getting into the car with her.
Ah, the joys of teaching a teen to drive. Just went through it. Barely survived. 30 more grey hairs.
Same here. Glad I only have to do it once!
@swansong68 Lucky you, I'm looking at another in a couple months. I've barely recovered!
Yeah I can just see him getting that liscense now. Good luck getting a good insurance rate. All the agents have to do is look up this story.
Does this yogurt taste like blood to you?
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@Koawoodplayer @Howard Beale Â
Racist???
White people don't drive Toyotas?
Who is the racist? Go look in a mirror tool
@Koawoodplayer @Howard Beale I don't think you got the joke on the recall problems with Toyota pedals. Instead you took it to race. Now who's the racist?
I am glad no one was hurt. I also feel bad for the kid. I hope this does not freak the kid out so much that he will not continue driving and get his license.
There go their insurance rates...
@Tim Lane Maybe not. I had a new driver on my policy, a new male driver. In less than 2 years we had 2 cars totaled, my fault. One accident, new drivers fault and one stolen car. Our rates did not go up. Maybe I just was lucky.
I guess that would conclude today's lesson...
I know what led up to the accident. Gas instead of the brake.
@cm257n7Â Can't use that one anymore - it's been exhausted...
@Throbbinhood Oh Throbbin, that was too funny!
I guess that's not what mom meant when she said "use the drive thru"?
This is why you don't let junior practice in a parking lot with the car you use every day. Send him to a driving school so that he can be in a car that has an extra break that the instructor can stomp on.
@BluefireJaguar Or even a "brake"!
@BluefireJaguar For $390, my son is getting several hours in the classroom and only 5 actual driving lessons. Driving school helps, but it is only a portion of drivers' education. To get his license, he needs 50 hours on the road, at least 10 of them being at night. His driver's ed time doesn't even count toward that. Teaching a teen to drive is a harrowing experience and getting those 50 hours in is wearing on my nerves.Â
I suppose reading this story does not help either. Â
@Many Hats @BluefireJaguar Yep, we paid for drivers ed through a private agency, but lo and behold you as parents do not get out of being teacher either. They get the bare bones minimum in the class. It sure helps, but it is not the end of it. Ah the joys!
@BluefireJaguarWhen the story hit yesterday afternoon, I said to my husband "that's the exact reason why our son is going to drivers ed."Â We're not professionals at teaching someone to drive and having someone with that extra break would be very useful with our son.Â
@BluefireJaguarÂ
It's not just "junior" that you want to send to a driving school. When my father died, my mother (who had never driven a car in her life) suddenly had to learn how to drive at age 44. I was away at college, but when I heard that she had taken TWENTY-THREE driving lessons and still had not gotten her license, I suspected the driving school was taking advantage of a poor widow.
Then, that summer, I rode in the passenger seat with her driving. 35 years later, I still have nightmares about it. Somewhere out there is a 1972 Dodge Dart that has my fingernails embedded in the bottom of the passenger's seat.
I don't know how much she was paying them for those lessons, but I know that I was willing to pay ANY amount to NOT have to be the one to teach her how to drive.
"By god - I'M GONNA HAVE MY YOGURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Mom was probably stomping the phantom brake the whole way. ("Stop, Jimmy. Stop. STOP!!"). Any parent who's ever taught a teenager to drive knows how easily this could happen.
Pretty sure I put a hole in the floor board teaching mine to drive.
Guess you don't have to be a geezer in a hat to do this trick
@Alikelystorey Â
But it helps. Whenever I'm driving and come up on some car driving 10 or 15 MPH under the limit it always seems to be some old dude in fishing hat or a little old lady slumped over looking at the road through the tank slit that is created by the top of the steering wheel and the dashboard.
@belsnickles Thanks for the visual!