Forgetting where you parked

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Couple lose car after Cheltenham hospital visit

An elderly couple who forgot where they parked their car are offering a reward for it to be found.

Emmanuel Elliott, 81, and partner Hilda Farmer, 79, parked "within a mile and a half" of Cheltenham General Hospital on Friday, but cannot remember where.

Family and friends have spent four days searching for the Ford Fiesta with no success.

The couple, from Gloucester, have offered £100 to anyone who locates the car.

Mr Elliott said it was on a street with "really nice houses on one side and some kind of greenery on the other".

'Frightened of Cheltenham'

Ms Farmer dropped her partner off for a hospital appointment and drove off to find somewhere to park.

"I don't know Cheltenham very well at all. I was born in Gloucester," she said.

I wonder how many others have had this problem - with cars in multistorys, and with bicycles in the sea of cycles at Temple Meads or Paddington.  Do preserved railways with a rolling stock pool "awaiting restoration" forget things sometimes? ( Do any TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have spare trains they've forgotten about?  )

[TaplowGreen]

Whilst I've had my own share of "senior moments", I think it's valid to ask whether someone who manages to "lose" their car in these circumstances should really be driving at all?

[Bmblbzzz]

I do agree with TG, in a general sort of way. As for forgetting cars, every so often you hear of pristine 30-year-old cars being discovered in a forgotten corner of a garage. The "sea of cycles" (nice phrase) probably contains more abandoned than forgotten bikes, I'd guess (abandoned by people who have left Bristol, for instance).

[broadgage]

Whilst I've had my own share of "senior moments", I think it's valid to ask whether someone who manages to "lose" their car in these circumstances should really be driving at all?

Agree, my late Grandmother (who had never passed a driving test !) was known for forgetting where she had parked, and no I do not think that she should have still been driving.

[didcotdean]

The follow up is that it hadn't been parked in a street at all, but in a car park 900m from the hospital (BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)).

"I hope I can remember how to drive."

[froome]

I don't drive, but when I'm cycling into town it is very easy to lock your bike up to a stand and not take in where the stand actually is. Being of a senior age now, I do find I have to concentrate very hard sometimes for some time before remembering, and am trying to train myself in taking more notice when parking. 

I'm not sure that memory issues actually affect the way you ride/drive, but they may indicate the need for better concentration, which is certainly an issue in some accidents.

[patch38]

Agree, my late Grandmother (who had never passed a driving test !) was known for forgetting where she had parked, and no I do not think that she should have still been driving.

Reminds me of the Jasper Carrott monologue:

My mother-in-law's been driving for sixty years and has never had an accident.

She's seen thousands...

[broadgage]

Elmer, who is getting on a bit, announces his intention to drive 60 miles largely along freeway, to the out of town shopping centre.
This somewhat concerns his wife, sitting at home anxiously. Her worry increases on hearing via the local radio, that someone is driving along the freeway in the wrong direction.
So she telephones Elmer, "Oh dearest, do be extra careful, some fool is driving in the wrong direction on the freeway"
He replies "I know, and its not just one, there's dozens of them!"

[Western Pathfinder]

A good few years ago I was just joining the M4 eastbound from Tormarton ,the jct for Bath returning home ,when driving straight at me was an Old gentleman in a Ford Consul to this day I don't know how I missed him thankfully the Range Rover I was using at the time had very good brakes ,not too mention easy clean upholstery.

[LiskeardRich]

I once lost my hire car in Greece. Or did I get lost trying to get back to it? probably the latter. I knew I’d parked on a side street near a motorbike dealer.