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Audi TT rams Dutch owner into wall

CAR OR OWNER?: Cars, like guns, don’t harm people. People harm people.  Especially when indulging in silly boyhood aftermarket modification fantasies. Image: Ben Boukes
CAR OR OWNER?: Cars, like guns, don’t harm people. People harm people. Especially when indulging in silly boyhood aftermarket modification fantasies. Image: Ben Boukes
The wonderful world of aftermarket automotive accessories.

Elaborate wheel designs. Outlandish interior trim upgrades and sound installations. Indeed, these excesses are very much the folly of youth, leading to rampant asset depreciation and a feeling of despondency when you finally sell your less-than-standard car.

There is a more dangerous side to aftermarket automotive accessories, though.

Lack of logic

Attaching cheap aerodynamic aids to a very powerful car could yield life-threatening instability at high speeds.

In the Netherlands, a man severely injured himself at relatively low speed in a bizarre aftermarket accessory accident involving a modified immobiliser unit. 

The unidentified Dutchman was rammed against a wall after starting his Audi TT with a remote ignition actuating device integrated into his keyfob.

Although it might be cool to start your car remotely, from a few metres away, it is best to do so when its transmission is engaged in neutral and the parking brake is actuated.

Unfortunately the Zoetemeer resident’s TT was parked in first gear without any brake pressure on the wheels. As such it lurched forward, pinning the owner against a wall framing the parking area of his apartment block.

Fortunately the man managed to extract himself, but his severely injured legs collapsed under him after a few paces. Emergency response personnel raced to the scene and stabilised the TT owner before rushing him to hospital.

The lesson? Real men don't add remote starting devices to their German compact sportscars.
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