Good thing it was insured......

[pauljh74]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...gutted-by-fire

A woman watched in horror as the new car she bought only hours before burst into flames on a busy Sydney road yesterday.

The 34-year-old Bondi woman ran into trouble when she drove the Mini Cooper over a mattress in Parramatta shortly after 5pm, but continued on not realising something was wrong.

She eventually stopped the car after smelling smoke and stepped out to see flames coming from the back wheel.

The fire had engulfed the vehicle by the time police and fire crews arrived at the scene.

The woman escaped unhurt.

The blaze was triggered by the mattress becoming wedged between the engine bay and the wheel, a police spokeswoman said.

Witness Phil Burt said the woman told him she had only bought the car that day and was on her way to her parents' house.

"She was agitated, bewildered and very, very emotional," Mr Burt told ninemsn.

Mr Burt said many people had stopped to watch the burning car produce a few "spectacular explosions", but it was not enough to stop traffic on the busy highway.

"Initially I thought it was quite exciting — it's not every day you see a car blow up," he said.

"Everyone thought someone was dead. She was pretty lucky. I told her she should go buy a lottery ticket."

Police said the car was insured.

This is why you insure your car before you drive it away.
Also she must be clueless not noticing a mattress caught under the car. Where possible, best not to run over debris - even if it looks like an empty cardboard box - could have something in it to puncture a tyre.

[05_ENFORCER]

LMFAO
The mattress would have been the same size as the freaking Mini :

[Rob's 76 Effy]

Not sure why you would run over a mattress in the first place, even a cover note is a good idea before leaving the dealers yard, a few years back when the Ford dealer was a St Mary's on glossip st (now gone), my brother inlaw was in there looking at new cars when a couple had just picked up there new car and drove out the driveway only to be cleaned up by another car coming down the street.

[RJO89]

Next thing you know she's going back to Mini complaining that the ride was a little soft...

[DoreSlamR]

"Everyone thought someone was dead. She was pretty lucky. I told her she should go buy a lottery ticket."

Pfft I'd be telling her to buy some glasses.

[TUF_302]

She dont need a lotto ticket!, she needs to learn to pay more attention!! :

[vztrt]

Insureance should knock her back, being dumb enough to run over a mattress?? How the hell do you miss seeing the thing? What was she doing instead of keeping her eyes on the road and paying attention!?

[Riksta]

She was probably watching for pedestrians and didn't see it!

[Rob's 76 Effy]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Insureance should knock her back, being dumb enough to run over a mattress?? How the hell do you miss seeing the thing? What was she doing instead of keeping her eyes on the road and paying attention!?

Well you being from Melb and maybe not knowing what traffic is like in Parramatta at 5.00pm (middle of peak hr) you can be forgiven this once, but they haven't said what kind of mattress could be one of those foam jobs could even be a small cot mattress, but i have seen ppl run over things cause at the last moment the car in front has got out of the way and the others have no where to go, see with stories like that not all the facts and details are shed

[XR6_661]

How can you not see a mattress.

I'm guessing for it to be wedged, it must have been one of those cheapy foam mattress'

What an idiot.

[bob 351]

blonde

[GTpilot]

over 2 1/2 hrs old......still waiting for a..........

[Daymoe]

Woman driver joke?

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by jgb

over 2 1/2 hrs old......still waiting for a..........

It'll buff out?

[J_Tank]

Originally Posted by bob 351

blonde

I was waiting for that, I'd say any 34 yr old Bondi resident buying a convertible mini would be guaranteed to be blonde irrespective of sex; and most probably didn't notice the mattress as they were talking on their mobile phone, drinking a skim soy latte and looking at their reflection in the rear view mirror. Again irrespective of sex...

[Marduk]

Who the f drives over a matress? Hell I avoid large sticks if I can lol. I'm suprised the Mini didn't roll over lol.

[05_ENFORCER]

Originally Posted by J_Tank

I was waiting for that, I'd say any 34 yr old Bondi resident buying a convertible mini would be guaranteed to be blonde irrespective of sex; and most probably didn't notice the mattress as they were talking on their mobile phone, drinking a skim soy latte and looking at their reflection in the rear view mirror. Again irrespective of sex...

Without being sarcastic
Ha Ha Ha Friggin HA

[MAGPIE]

Wow all the dick heads have come out of the woodwork for this one

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by MAGPIE

Wow all the dick heads have come out of the woodwork for this one

You included????

[azaxr8]

Originally Posted by Marduk

Who the f drives over a matress? Hell I avoid large sticks if I can lol. I'm suprised the Mini didn't roll over lol.

thought it woulda got bogged on it

[Quicksand]

why didn't she stop? Thats what i'm confused about. If i hit something that big, i would stop to check it before moving on.

I can understand her not having enough time to react before hitting the mattress (i have seen a barina run over a queen sized matress at 100km/h on a FWY with no time to react) and to be honest unless you are in that situation its hard to say whether you would have done better or not.

But not stopping to inspect for issues...thats the dangerous part.

Isnt there a bit of a wait for the delivery of Mini's?

[Powdered Toast Man]

Pretty much exacly what I was going to say Inducted Breeze. Fine she might not have been able to avoid it but she should have stopped and checked for damage and debris as soon as she could. She could have nipped down a side road to stop since she was on a busy thoroughfare.

[Full Noise]

It’s thanks to airheads like this that we pay so much for car insurance. A total loss claim because she’s to stupid to pull over ands check what she’s just run over. Lucky it wasn’t a pedestrian. Every time I hit anything, foreign object, kangaroo etc I always pull over and check underneath the truck just in case there’s any damage done.

[AWD Chaser]

Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man

Pretty much exacly what I was going to say Inducted Breeze. Fine she might not have been able to avoid it but she should have stopped and checked for damage and debris as soon as she could. She could have nipped down a side road to stop since she was on a busy thoroughfare.

Too right. If I managed to run over a mattress, even if i didn't notice a handling difference, I would still stop to see "at least" for any damage, especially being a brand spanker... and at $38,000

[MITCHAY]

How the hell do you not see a mattress? Must of pulled some favours down at the RTA to pass the sight test :

[bob 351]

Originally Posted by Peuty

You included????

YOU BEAT ME TO IT

[bob 351]

YOU THINK THATS BAD CHECK THIS OUT THIS WAS EMAILED TO ME

AW GEEZ I GOT A REAR END SHUDDER





THERE,S YOUR PROBLEM MISTER

: : :

IT,S A FREAKIN MATTRESS TOO

[Rob's 76 Effy]

Hate to be getting that off, damm those inner spring mattresses

[gz1]

I call BS. The comment

" many people had stopped to watch the burning car produce a few "spectacular explosions", but it was not enough to stop traffic on the busy highway."

gives it away. Even the smallest fender touch is enough to totally choke traffic anywhere on Sydney with the ammount of rubber-neckers we have.

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by Explorer_Me

Hate to be getting that off, damm those inner spring mattresses

Two words… Gas axe.