A daughter reveals what happened after she told her dad that her car was “violently” accelerating. After inspection, it turns out she drove it in the wrong gear for multiple years and ultimately fried the engine.
TIkTok creator Hannah (@hanahbananaspammy) posted a video about her dad’s discovery on Nov. 19. In the video’s text overlay, she writes, “My car accelerates very violently and I told my dad about it. Long story short, I’ve been driving it in the wrong gear and frying my engine for the past two years.”
In the comments section, viewers jumped in with feedback and some harsh assumptions about Hannah’s overall driving capabilities.
“Vehicular incompetence should genuinely be a misdemeanor,” wrote one viewer.
“I can’t believe how easy it is to get a license,” said a second person.
“I feel like people should be more educated on their cars before they should drive,” suggested a third viewer. “Similar to how a pilot has to know their plane.”
Another person asked, “How do you possibly drive in the wrong gear? If it’s manual, you go to 1. If it’s automatic, just don’t go into manual mode.”
Someone else asked, “Couldn’t you tell by the extremely high RPM?”
However, others asked everyone to cut Hannah a little slack. “You guys are judging her way too hard for something she has to do to survive (drive),” wrote one of her defenders.
Daughter Explains Why She Drove in Wrong Gear
Hannah edited the caption after the hullabaloo in the comments to defend her driving skills. “I don’t know who is telling y’all that I drive in low gear,” she wrote. “I don’t nor have I ever unless needed. To those of you calling me incompetent and saying I need to give my license back? I don’t know. I’m a pretty good driver. I’ve been told by a few people.”
She continued, “Me shifting my car a little bit to the left in the gears has nothing to do with my driving skills. I made an explanation video. Please watch it before you comment something about this not knowing the full story.”
In that follow-up video, Hannah reveals that her car is an automatic transmission and not a manual as some viewers assumed. She explains that she was supposed to put the car in the Drive position, but instead was sliding it over into fourth gear by mistake.
Automatic transmissions allow drivers to select the gear they want to drive in. Lower gears are ideal for slower speeds and rough conditions. Higher gears are generally used when drivers are moving at a higher speeds.
Viewers Apologize for Jumping to Conclusions
In the comments section of the follow-up video, some people said Hannah was unfairly judged the first time around.
“The ‘4’ option is just gears 1-4,” wrote one person. “It’ll stop shifting up at fourth gear. If it’s a five-speed auto, you just weren’t using fifth gear. No big deal, no ‘engine frying’ has occurred. Probably just lower highway MPG.”
A second agreed. “All you did was lock the transmission out of the highest gear/overdrive. Basically, you spent more money on gas and that’s it. Your engine and transmission are fine.”
Motor1 contacted Hannah via TikTok comment and direct messages for comment. We also reached out to Toyota via email for comment. We’ll update this if either responds.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motor1.com?
Take our 3 minute survey.- The Motor1.com Team