This is everything wrong with American drivers in one video
This Texas Mom was caught on camera giving a masterclass on how you should never drive at highway speeds on a United States interstate. According to Redditor /u/wagon125’s video shared on the /r/idiotsincars subreddit, he caught this Texas Mom on Interstate 35 in her clapped out mid-2000s Chrysler Town and Country minivan completely zoned out on her phone while traveling at highway speeds.
And that wasn’t even the worst part as both her kids in the middle captain’s chairs were getting a blast of hot air thanks to an open sliding door. That’s right, there was a gaping, human-sized hole in the middle of the van where, normally, a door would be.
Check out the fine example of American motoring at its worst below. Mirror here.
Passed this van in TX. Door open while texting and driving from r/IdiotsInCars
In the video we see the Redditor’s wife filming and commenting at the rolling anomaly in front of her. Presumably she’s surprised to find a van barrelling down the Interstate with its doors open, not all that surprising since temps and humidity percentages are touching 100 at the tail end of summer.
Here’s where they were on Google Maps.
She then sees the Mom behind the wheel, the steering wheel in her left hand and her right hand clutching her iPhone. The husband and both her kids don’t seem to mind, unbothered by their Mom’s driving habits.
The wife filming squeals out in surprise, “James, there are people in there!”
Theories
Judging by the state of the rest of the van, many Redditors, myself included, conclude there’s a chance the door won’t even stay closed.
Others presume, given the temps, the air conditioning is probably broken.
One Redditor with knowledge of these vans chimes in, informing us the windows don’t even roll down.
Actually the windows don’t go down in the second row on that van at all. Only the front windows do, and the third row windows have that little pop up thing that vans normally have.
This is common for vans around this price range since adding a power window would increase weight, complexity, and cost.
No excuses, safety first.
With what we can safely assume, sacrificing safety in the name of a bit of comfort, especially at highway speeds, is inexcusable.
This Mom should shell out the money to get her A/C or sliding door fixed properly if she wants her kids to cool off while driving in the summer heat.
Driving around with the sliding door open is just plain dangerous.
I don’t have to spell out the consequences of a side impact with no door protecting her kids.
If you have a van, don’t drive around with the sliding door open. Not only is it unsafe, I’m sure it’s against the rules of the road.
