Just saw this thread again and it reminded me of a close call my younger brother had when he was about 15. He had spent the night at a friend's house. When his friend's Mom went to bed and they were sure she was asleep, they took her VW van for a joyride. Neither my brother or his friend had any experience driving or a license. They drove around a new subdivision that had many new unoccupied homes. My brother's friend drove first without incident, but when my brother drove he ran up on the curb. He jerked the wheel to get back and the van careened out of control and flipped over several times. My brother was thrown out the window and the van rolled over him. Fortunately, he went right back in the open window. My brother did suffer a serious concusion, but other than that he and his friend were relatively unhurt. The van was totalled.
For about a year after that my brother was terrified of riding in a car. He would ask me for a ride in my car and get in the back seat, put on his seatbelt, and insist we roll all the windows up. This was in Florida and my car did not have air conditioning. He eventually got over it and drives like a maniac today.
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